RUMOR ALERT: This information is strictly a RUMOR so until anything is officially confirmed, just assume it’s FALSE. Grain of salt and all that.
Well, the rumor that Rian Johnson’s original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy has been scrapped has resurfaced. Similar rumors surfaced after ‘The Last Jedi’ was received negatively by many fans, who found his curmudgeonly depiction of Luke Skywalker out-of-character, among other things. The backlash against ‘The Last Jedi’ and a boycott among haters has been cited as one of the reasons why ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ flopped. But Johnson had been signed to develop a new trilogy before the release of ‘The Last Jedi’. However, after the negative reaction, rumors swirled that his trilogy was being scrapped, but everyone involved, including Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, stressed that this gossip was not true and that Johnson was proceeding with development.
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Last week, Disney announced plans to release three unnamed ‘Star Wars’ movies in December of 2022, 2024, and 2026. Youtuber John Campea, who had earlier dismissed claims of Johnson’s trilogy being scrapped, has now come forward saying that he has been contacted by “somebody in a position of knowledge of the situation” who informed him that Johnson looked to still be involved with ‘Star Wars’– in an advisory capacity– but that the three pictures scheduled are not his.
“As we all know, there are new Star Wars movies coming – but not for another three years after Star Wars: Episode IX finally hits theaters. There have previously been erroneous reports – and we’re going back six months or more now – that Rian Johnson’s trilogy was done, and that got debunked. However, last night I got contacted by somebody in a position of knowledge of the situation, who let me know that the Star Wars dates – 2022, 2024, 2026 – are in fact all [David] Benioff and [D.B.] Weiss’ movies. That they do not have anything on the schedule for Rian Johnson’s Star Wars films, and, according to this particular source, Rian Johnson’s thing was basically done. He may actually be consulting on with Benioff and Weiss about their trilogy, but that his thing was off.”
He followed up with another source who did not confirm that Johnson’s pictures had been scrapped, but did confirm that the three mystery films on the schedule are Benioff and Weiss’. (One of the sources is apparently one of the first that leaked the news that Ben Affleck would no longer be playing Batman.)
RELATED: Rian Johnson Responds To Twitter Account Promising A Remake Of ‘The Last Jedi’
I will only add that according to the initial buzz when Disney announced these release dates, it was not believed that all three were part of a single trilogy, but a mix. But that is also gossip, so y’know… grain of salt.
It’s expected that a studio would stand by its talent in the face of the public, but Lucasfilm is owned by Disney and there are just certain truths about Disney– they EXIST to please audiences, they avoid controversy like the plague, and they love making money. If fans hated ‘The Last Jedi’, it doesn’t make financial sense to keep Johnson around if A) he’s going to deliver something similar to ‘The Last Jedi’, which fans will not like, or B) regardless of how his trilogy turns out– even if it’s nothing like ‘The Last Jedi’– that people refuse to even go see it.
But once again, this is just a RUMOR for now. Would you be disappointed if Johnson’s trilogy was scrapped?
If you want to watch all of Campea’s video, it is below:
