Rian Johnson Looks Back on The Last Jedi, Mark Hamills Reaction to the Movie, Carrie Fishers Passing, and More

Five years after the release of The Last Jedi, writer/director Rian Johnson is preparing to launch his second movie since then, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. The movie, which will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, is the focus of the cover story of the latest issue of Empire. In addition to speaking to Johnson about the new Benoit Blanc whodunit, Empire also had a lengthy conversation about The Last Jedi and what the movie means to him now.



The feature, available for free on the Empire mobile app, dives deep into the entire process behind the movie, from its inception, to the filming and post-production, to the aftermath of the release. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy hired Johnson in 2014 to write and direct Episode VIII, giving him free rein to tell the story he wanted following up on the events of The Force Awakens. Johnson started putting pen to paper by the time that movie started rolling cameras, but as a lifelong Star Wars fan, he was a bit scared at first, but he used that to his advantage:

With The Last Jedi, Johnson tried to get to the bottom of what Star Wars meant to him as a child, and why. He tried to reconstruct that myth from the ground up, challenge it, and put it back together. He told Empire:

To examine the myth of Star Wars, Rian Johnson decided to challenge everyone, including himself, by choosing none other than Luke Skywalker as the incarnation of what he tried to do.

Ultimately, it was the way he approached Luke what made or broke the movie for a lot of people, even Mark Hamill himself, who was not happy with the decisions made for his character. Johnson, however, understands why he would be frustrated at times, as he explained:

As a professional, Mark Hamill learned how to keep his thoughts to himself and go along for the ride Rian had prepared for his character. That doesn't mean he ultimately agreed with the choices (though he has regretted airing their disagreements in public), but he decided to do his best with what had been given to him. Johnson recalled it as follows:

While the sequel trilogy never saw the reunion of the original trio on screen, The Last Jedi did have one of the most emotional moments in all three movies, when Luke and Leia reunited after many years. As Johnson said, it was even more emotional on set to watch the reunion between Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill:

It's even more painful now, with the power of hindsight, after knowing that Carrie Fisher would only be with us for a few more months. Johnson also recalled the moment he heard the news, and how that impacted him on a personal level:

According to Rian Johnson, the plan for the sequel trilogy, and what he intended to convey with the ending of The Last Jedi, was to have each movie be about one of the original heroes:

Fate got in the way, but so did the fan reaction to The Last Jedi. Even though the film grossed $1.3 billion worldwide, and scored a 91% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, there is a loud portion of the fanbase that actively dislikes the movie, still to this day. An even louder minority of that group redirected their anger towards the writer/director, and some of the actors (famously bullying Kelly Marie Tran out of social media). Despite what may seem on the outside, it took Rian Johnson some time to process the fan reaction:

Star Wars: The Last Jedi. L to R: Director Rian Johnson on set with John Boyega (Finn) and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron). Photo: David James. ©2017 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.



That was an experience on its own, which Rian Johnson is, in part, glad he went through:

He insists, though, that he encourages criticism and constructive arguments, but he won't tolerate trolling and toxicity:

Looking back now, Johnson says he's prouder than ever of what they accomplished:

Shortly before The Last Jedi came out, Lucasfilm publicly stated their trust in the movie when they officially announced that Rian Johnson would be overseeing a brand-new Star Wars film trilogy, and he would at least write and direct the first movie. Five years later, there's been next to no movement around that project, though the filmmaker is still saying conversations are happening. Earlier this year, Kennedy also hinted that the project may not be dead, but it's been a matter of scheduling.



We shall see if this is true or not, but it is unlikely we'll hear more specifics in the next few months or even the next couple of years.



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