http://www.starwars.com/news/rian-johns ... 1147744441

"For director Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi was just the beginning of his journey in a galaxy far, far away.

Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce.

As writer-director of The Last Jedi, Johnson conceived and realized a powerful film of which Lucasfilm and Disney are immensely proud. In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.

“We all loved working with Rian on The Last Jedi,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm. “He’s a creative force, and watching him craft The Last Jedi from start to finish was one of the great joys of my career. Rian will do amazing things with the blank canvas of this new trilogy.”

“We had the time of our lives collaborating with Lucasfilm and Disney on The Last Jedi,” Johnson and Bergman said in a joint statement. “Star Wars is the greatest modern mythology and we feel very lucky to have contributed to it. We can’t wait to continue with this new series of films.”

Johnson’s upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrives in U.S. theaters on Dec. 15, 2017.

No release dates have been set for the new films, and no porgs were available for comment."

Things have been surprisingly quiet around here recently, are people just not interested anymore? This has got me VERY interested, hoping this could be old republic or some other historic period rather than the current timeline.

Completely uninterested. TFA and R1 were stinkers. Johnson delivered a finished film ahead of schedule and without drama. I'll see how I feel after Jedi.

And there will also always be people like Topeka that will think any new SW sucks, no matter who writes or directs. Unless he's able to write it himself or choose the writers and directors. Thankfully he's the minority based on pretty much every consensus poll taken of the last two films.

From Evil_Elvis:
Things have been surprisingly quiet around here recently, are people just not interested anymore?

You're not the only one who's noticed just how dead the Forums have been around here.

I have watched the TLJ's last three trailers/TV commercials an average of five times apiece.

That is such a low number, it's almost beyond comprehension to me, especially when I reflect on how often I watched all of the other preceding trailers, which, at the minimum, were watched over and over again by me the first night a minimum of fifteen times.

I have very little interest in TLJ. When I saw the first trailer/images for it, and realized just how awful and lazy its visual designs were, it opened up my eyes to how vapid TFA was. Anyone reading my prior posts regarding it can easily see how much I loved TFA, but I can no longer deny what is so obvious to see.

J.J. Abrams is an AWFUL "re-inventor," or "new" content writer. He hasn't a single original anything inside his body. Even "Lost," with its unbelievably amazing start, ended up being a six-year long journey to have a "Bobby Ewing Dallas" style ending. Halfway through season 2, numerous fans had already accurately concluded that everyone on that island was dead. The producers lied through their teeth for five years. FIVE. YEARS. Denial after denial after denial. The story line was quickly milked dry, and one false-lead after another was planted as filler that was so mind-numbing in its execution it's hard to imagine even one person having the gall to try something so audacious in how it insulted its viewership. Five years' worth of false-leads-puffery-writing to throw off the fans who could easily discern its lameness. All of that energy, all of those resources, to puff away the scent off a huge turd.

And Abrams was The Base of this new Star Wars pyramid.

Looking back at TFA, its trite and thin nature makes perfect sense.

So, I am absolutely not excited to see this film at all. The ONLY reason why I'm going to go is for my nine-years-old son. Even though he had to be called back to return to my computer to finish the last trailer (a trailer he's only seen once, and expresses NO desire to see it again!), like any nine-years-old boy, he wants to see it because he likes high action. But he doesn't love the characters. He expresses NO interest in them. When I was his age, I was obsessed with the CHARACTERIZATION. It was the heart of my playtime with those toys, the novels, and comic books. But there are no characters to be seen here. Only shadows.

I dearly hope that I'm proven WRONG.

But no matter what, I'll be dragging myself into that theatre seat, and what a shame that will be. That kid in me is gone.

I want him back.

Kyle it's probably because you aren't a kid anymore... no matter what anyone does, they won't bring it back for you.

I'm pumped for it. If The Last Jedi is as original as Rian Johnson promises it to be, this stand-alone trilogy will show Rian will be as creative as Lucas's prequels and Clone Wars have.

It looks like Disney has found their Star Wars equivalent of Marvel's Russo brothers. (Or, is this more like their Nolan and The Dark Knight films? Or, Jackson and the Tolkien movies?)

Johnson is bright, competent, and seemingly well-liked by the Lucasfilm staff. This appears to be a solid decision, Disney.

I'm glad that we'll be getting a different take on Star Wars. It's time for someone to make their own cinematic mark without the crutch of Lucas' legacy elements. Please wow me, and make see Star Wars in a new way.

From DINVADER:
Kyle it's probably because you aren't a kid anymore... no matter what anyone does, they won't bring it back for you.

I'm happy to say that it's not that. I can still be young at heart. I'm pleased to report that I still play Dungeons & Dragons with flesh and blood human beings at an actual table. And they're all Good People.

No, if one reads my posts over the years, it's pretty clear that there's been a major sea change that came on suddenly, and it had to do with what I observed and *finally* clicked with me.

I mean, Johnson actually demanded walkers that look like mecha-King-Kongs that have enormous SQUINTED EYES. This is POOR design, as the original AT-ATs actually look FAR more menacing because the animalistic features are more abstracted. That thin red window-slit for the AT-AT's crew is BELIEVABLY functional AND threatening. THAT is GOOD design. Johnson's giving us an anti-starfighter star destroyer that's as flat and featureless as a LITERAL triangle, and just SO much more. Realizing how pathetic the vehicles are in this film caused all of the dominoes to fall; only THEN did I finally recognize the same level of greed-driven laziness that abounds in TFA, and it was Mr. Unoriginal Abrams who was the "mastermind" behind the soulless selections made then, and which still naturally drive the current direction of the trilogy.

If Johnson's a PHENOMENAL writer, then I'm READY to fall In Love with that aspect of his creativity. But he desperately needs to be YANKED from having any serious oversight of the designing that goes on at Lucasfilm. His eye for immersive and impressive visual design - well, let's just say that Ray Charles would do a far better job. Lucasfilm should just scour the internet to recruit die hard fans who've come up with far superior designs and hire them. We'd all be better served with this approach than what Johnson's forcing down our throats.

Again, I'm READY to be converted to a Johnson believer, but all of the visuals have been very counterproductive to inspiring me to WANT to see this film.

Disney established the OT-cribbed look with TFA. I'm not sure that Johnson had much say-so when it came to TLJ's final designs. He may have simply asked for walkers, and got Disney manufactured ape machines.

Agreed. I'd like to see something set a few hundred years or more either in the future or past so it doesn't have to be beholden to the era or tech of Skywalker era. Granted there's been plenty of that type of material in other media but not live action so I'm interested in seeing what a completely fresh new trilogy could offer.

Playing devil's advocate, Abrams and TFA kinda got the ST off to a bad start design wise by pigeonholing it with nothing but rehashed OT designs. There's only so many ways to update and redesign a TIE Fighter, Star Destroyer or Walker all of which have pretty basic shapes to begin with. Johnson could have chosen to outfit the First Order and Resistance with completely fresh original designs but maybe he felt he had to follow in line with what TFA (unfortunately) established. It will be interesting to see if there's any insights in the art book that will hopefully give a clearer picture of Johnson's eye for design (or lack thereof).

I think Rian is a talented guy, so I’m glad he’s involved. Filoni would be a great choice too (IMHO) as he’s a real student of Lucas’. However, I’m somewhat uncomfortable with the notion of Star Wars becoming ubiquitous. I already feel quite disengaged from it, primarily because of the direction Disney took with the new films, but also because it looks and feels like they are just turning a handle on the manufacture of Star Wars. I wonder if the new Star Wars films will be Old Republic or The First Jedi kind of thing??? I’d certainly imagine them being set before any of the others.

I'm intrigued by this, but a little disappointed that this won't be Episodes 10, 11 & 12.
But I guess this means that Episode 9 will be the end of the chronological episodes. If that's the case, then so be it.
If this new Johnson Trilogy (JT?) is good, then bring it on.

Basically it's all your subjective opinion. You don't like or think the designs are good...so that must make them scientifically objectively bad. This is art, not science.
On a side not, Disney finances & markets the movies, they don't sit in a board meeting deciding designs and ideas. There would be no reason for Lucasfilm and the story group to exist if that were the case.

Rian has said if you don't like it is "ALL ON ME." (HIM). His choices.

We complain when it's too new.
We complain when it's too old.
We complain when it doesn't feel enough like Star Wars.
We complain when it feels too much like Star Wars.
We complain when they don't take chances.
We complain when we don't like the chances they take.....

What we've had with Star Wars since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, has been an embarrassment of riches. And all anyone does.. Fans and news outlets alike.. is complain, take it for granted and use it for click bait trash.

We need CoGro's opinion on this.

hahaha... hes normally right on... agreed. I will watch people fighting in space shot in beautiful CGI until the cows come home... always something interesting.

With this and that TV series, I'd say get ready for the labyrinth of subforums.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say Disney’s Star Wars output has been embarrassing, but it’s certainly not of a high creative standard in my humble opinion. I think it’s actually a great example of the mechanical reproduction of art, in this case a series of concepts defined by the originals, which fast becomes a production line of replicated, but inferior, products cranked out over and over ad infinitum. ‘More’ is seldom ‘better’, and when it becomes so commonplace, I believe something is lost, both in terms of creativity and originality.
Of course there is always the voice of dissent and unrest, one can’t please everyone, but that doesn’t negate that it’s entirely possible to establish a set of relatively objective criteria for what constitutes good, bad or indifferent... otherwise we’d all have to agree that Batman and Robin (or whatever film one chooses to select as the baseline) is as good as The Empire Strikes Back.

Then quite clearly there’s the same level of artistry, imagination, technical application etc. on display in something like Geostorm or Tranformers: The Last Night as there is in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lawrence of Arabia or The Searchers. Clearly Pacino’s performace in The Godfather II, or Day-Lewis’ in My Left Foot is no more an achievement of the art than say Johnny Depp in The Lone Ranger. I’d welcome that debate...

The Old Republic era seems like the popular, easy choice for the time frame in which this trilogy would exist.

I'd love to see an examination on the origins of the Jedi and/or the Force. You'd have a central element people can still understand and associate with Star Wars, but it can be set in a completely unique time period and carried by new characters. It could be a coming-of-age story, only instead of a person coming of age, it could be a concept (Force). Throw in the origin of the Sith in the middle chapter of that trilogy, and I would be beyond excited for something like that.

For me they really have to move the films away from the existing iconography of the OT. The idea that we might get more films with stormtroopers, x-wings, rebels, Darth Vader etc. makes my blood turn cold. I want new stories, new concepts... and I think the best way to achieve that is to deconstruct the existing iconography by going back to the Old Republic or similar...

I thought RO did well in moving away to a degree... it felt different yet comfortable. I think it can be done.

It married the styles of both the OT and PT, to a degree... and was certainly better than TFA, but it was mired by one of the fundamental issues (for me) in that it was more about the celebration of Star Wars iconography than it was about creating new stories/ideas. Rogue One was pretty much entirely meta... but that’s just my take.

Everything since 2014 has felt slightly meta and parody-like. And it will remain so because George Lucas ain't coming back to lend what is authentically and unquestionably new to future outings. The secondary source fans now have direct control over this franchise.

I agree but I think it’s more to do with executive control (Disney/Kennedy) than a lack of creative/original filmmakers per se. I have no doubt that there’s filmmakers out there who’d welcome the chance of doing something different with Star Wars (I’d always assumed that’s what the standalone films were for until Rogue One), but Disney don’t appear to want that, which is why we’re getting the kind of films we’re getting. Which is great if you want Star Wars films that just contain all the same elements repeated ad infinitum, but not so great for those that would like to see Star Wars doing something a little more progressive.

That's what this here forum is for, right? And of course we also celebrate all of these things you list too. The Dark. The Light. The Balance ;-)

But it had to be limited in what it could do based on the time period in which the story takes place.

Like the prequels, we knew something of the acquisition of the Death Star plans but just hadn't seen it.

Personally, I loved the movie.

It is right with A New Hope as second best in the franchise after The Empire Strikes Back.

-------------------------------------------------

New stories and ideas can come with this new trilogy.

Why they think Johnson is the guy to do this, well, I do not know.

The problem I have is how far can you go until it stops feeling like Star Wars?

Look at the train wreck that is now Star Trek.

Between Abrams horrid films and the unwatchable new television series, is this the future fans want for Star Wars?

I think you can only take it so far with new ideas, characters and technology before it stops feeling like what it was.

This is my main problem with 98% of the EU.

It doesn't feel like Star Wars to me.

Dark Jedi, gray Jedi and all that garbage. The inane overblown love for Thrawn and Mara Jade.

At some point, you overstretch the tether. You lose your way home.

But that’s kind of the point isn’t it? Of all the limitless opportunities to tell a new story, and provide a new backdrop for Star Wars, they choose stories set within a similar time period/setting and within the same galactic conflict. It’s a bit like limiting all films with a historic setting to the events of WWII. There’s no compelling cinematic reason to choose to tell a story about the Death Star plans, other than the opportunity it provides them to plonk the Death Star, Tarkin, Vader, X-Wings, Stormtroopers etc. into it. I get that they want to keep telling stories with Han Solo etc. (and I understand why some fans want to keep seeing these things), but I’m not sure it enriches either the Star Wars universe or popular cinema, especially when those choices appear to primarily commercial rather than creative. In fact, I think that mindset will lessen it, if not now, soon.

Did you not know that Rogue One was John Knoll's idea he had in his head several years before it was released? He pitched it to Kathleen Kennedy.

You may have a point.

We will know because Johnson is no doubt looking at one of three things:

The distant past
The distant future
Wild Space/Unknown Regions

So we will see if they can go away from the Star Wars we know and be successful.

Books, comics, and video games don't cut it.

A major motion picture with nine figures behind it will tell us.

I just think the line between new and strolling too far is very fine.

I think Disney/Lucasfilm’s choices have been poor so far, post Lucas. However, I like Johnson as a filmmaker, and given an aspect of TLJ seems to be the first Jedi, perhaps he will want to show the Old, Old Republic... and how the Jedi were established etc. and I’d personally welcome that.