If anyone should be feeling on top of the world right now, it's Rian Johnson. His latest film, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery was released to critical acclaim following a limited theatrical release, after Netflix paid an eye-watering $400 million+ for the rights to sequels to his original hit Knives Out.
Not only that, but the film has just gathered a handful of Critics Choice Awards nominations, with further recognition from awards bodies expected in the coming weeks. It's marked quite the recovery for a man who, according to some misguided souls, ruined Star Wars.
Johnson, of course, directed 2017's The Last Jedi, one of the most divisive and controversial installments in the series' history. Despite the fan reaction, the film was critically acclaimed by film professionals, and the spicy online response to the film hasn't diluted the director's desire to journey further into a galaxy far, far away.
After the release of The Last Jedi, he was then attached to make an original trilogy of his own, something which he is still keen to do. His love for Star Wars remains undimmed, and he wants to finish the work he started, as Johnson told Insider.
It wouldn't be the end of the world for anyone, I think. But I would be sad. I love the world. I love the people. I love 'Star Wars' fans. I love the passion of how they engage in it, there's nothing like telling a story in this world and then experiencing people truly connecting to it and letting you know that. It's extraordinary. So I'm hoping I get to do it again, but nothing is the end of the world until the end of the world actually happens, which, what day of the week is it?
Fortunately for Johnson, he's being kept very busy with the adventures of the eccentric Southern detective, Benoit Blanc, and his new muse, Daniel Craig, with whom he partnered on the sale of the franchise to Netflix. Work is set to begin on a third edition of the intrepid investigator's latest adventures, with Johnson keen to bring the film back to home soil following a sojourn to sunny southern Greece.
“I want it to be in America,” he said. "There’s a lot of tempting things of going to - Paris or the Alps - but I feel it’s really important that these are American movies. Even with Glass Onion, it’s set overseas but it’s a group of Americans who are trapped on an island together, so bringing it back to somewhere a little closer to home I think could be a good thing for the next one.”
For the time being, you can see The Last Jedi streaming on Disney+, while Glass Onion starts streaming on Netflix on December 23. Check out Collider's chat with Johnson and Craig down below.