Out promoting “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” at a screening at the Middleburg Film Festival, filmmaker Rian Johnson spoke about what’s in the works for him – from more “Knives Out” films to his long-gestating “Star Wars” trilogy.
Inspired by his love of the Peter Ustinov-led Agatha Christie film adaptations of “Death on the Nile” and “Evil Under the Sun,” Johnson’s “Knives Out” films are a passion project of the director, and he tells the Awards Circuit Podcast he’s more than happy to continue on with them beyond the already set third feature:
“If each one of these can really be what Agatha Christie did, if it can be not just in a totally new location and a new cast, but also trying something exciting, I’ll keep doing it as long as Daniel [Craig] and I are having a good time. I’ll keep making these as long as they let me.”
He also talked about his proposed “Star Wars” trilogy, which doesn’t seem to have progressed much as he has been understandably busy. According to Johnson, it’s really just a matter of scheduling:
“I have talked to Kathy [Kathleen Kennedy] about it, and we’re still talking about it. I had such an amazing experience making ‘The Last Jedi.’ It’s entirely a matter of scheduling. For me, putting this [‘Glass Onion’] out and making the next one of these…the answer is I don’t know.”
He adds: “God I hope so” when he is asked if we will definitively see those “Star Wars” films in the future. His immediate next project is the series “Poker Face” which he dubs a throwback to weekly mystery shows like “Columbo” and “Magnum P.I.”.
One thing he won’t be doing is making films about his childhood in the way directors like Steven Spielberg and Kenneth Branagh have been doing lately. Johnson says: “It would not be as entertaining. It would be very boring.”
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” will score an exclusive one-week sneak-preview window in cinemas from November 23rd-29th ahead of a Netflix release on December 23rd.
