Latest news with #TheLastJedi
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mark Hamill Makes Announcement About 'Star Wars' Future
Mark Hamill, who plays the legendary character Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies, wants to clear the air on a comment he made that led many to believe he is quitting the franchise. Hamill, who starred in one of the most recent installments of the all-time great movie series, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, made it sound like he is indeed entirely done. "But my deal is, I had my time. I'm appreciative of that, but I really think they should focus on the future and all the new characters,' Hamill explained to Chris Agar of While that created a stir among Star Wars fans, Hamill has since clarified his comments. "I don't want to make a big pronouncement like, 'This is my decision.' I'm just saying that it really felt like a conclusion," he explained to Willie Geist on Sunday Today. "My character was given complete closure. I died, ironically, by overdosing on the Force, I might point out." "I saw headlines: 'Mark Hamill quit Star Wars.' Well, let me say, they haven't asked me," Hamill added. "It's not like they said, 'Please come back.' How much can you do with a Force Ghost? I'd like a movie set all in the Force Ghost realm. I could have conversations with Alec your lips to God's ears." Hamill goes on to add that with his character dying in Episode VIII, it's time for the franchise to move into the future. "I once the Skywalker trilogy was over, it was a whole new era for them [Lucasfilm]," he said. "I had my time. I'm really appreciative, but I'm really looking to the future for all these new projects," The franchise has routinely brought back departed Jedi through the use of Force Ghosts, so don't be surprised to see our favorite Skywalker make a cameo in a future film. Mark Hamill Makes Announcement About 'Star Wars' Future first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 18, 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Geek Tyrant
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Rian Johnson Defends Snoke's Death and the Direction of STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI — GeekTyrant
Few scenes in Star Wars have stirred as much debate as the moment Kylo Ren slices Supreme Leader Snoke in half during The Last Jedi . The mysterious big bad introduced in The Force Awakens , rumored to be Darth Plagueis or some other ancient Sith mastermind, was built up with ominous weight, only to be suddenly and shockingly killed off halfway through Episode VIII . Now, writer-director Rian Johnson is revisiting that controversial choice and doubling down on why it was the right move. In a new profile with Rolling Stone, Johnson addressed not only the backlash surrounding Snoke's death, but also the misconception that he made The Last Jedi in isolation, with no coordination with J.J. Abrams. Johnson said: 'We communicated. We met and I spent days with him and was able to get into his head and all the choices he had made. That having been said, I communicated and I went and made the movie. And he was in the middle of Force Awakens. 'Ultimately, I feel like the choices in it, none of them were born out of an intent to 'undo' anything. They were all borne out of the opposite intent of, how do I take this story that J.J. wrote, that I really loved, and these characters he created that I really loved, and take them to the next step?' For Johnson, the goal wasn't to shock for the sake of it or to wipe Abrams' work clean. He says he took Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy's request seriously when she asked him to craft the Empire Strikes Back of the sequel trilogy. 'Kathy [Kennedy] said, 'We're looking at someone to do the Empire of this series.' I took that assignment very seriously. Maybe more seriously than someone would have liked. 'I guess to me that didn't mean making something that just had nods to Empire — that meant trying to genuinely do what Empire did.' So when it came time to deal with Snoke, Johnson saw an opportunity, not to remove a villain, but to elevate another one. 'That was, in reading J.J.'s script [for Force Awakens], and watching the dailies, and seeing the power of Adam Driver's character. The interrogation scene in the first movie, between Rey and Kylo, was so incredibly powerful. 'Seeing this complicated villain that's been created, I was just so compelled by that. This is all a matter of perspective and phrasing, but to me, I didn't easily dispense with Snoke.' Instead, Johnson says he used Snoke's death as a deliberate turning point to push Kylo Ren into full villain mode. 'I took great pains to use him in the most dramatically impactful way, which was to then take Kylo's character to the next level and set him up as well as I possibly could. 'I guess it all comes down to your point of view. I thought, 'This is such a compelling and complicated villain. This is who it makes sense going forward to build around.'' Of course, Abrams later pivoted back to the old school by bringing back Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker , revealing that Snoke was merely a puppet of the Sith Lord all along. Rey was also retconned as Palpatine's granddaughter, backtracking the idea that she was 'nobody,' another creative decision that divided fans. Still, love it or hate it, Johnson's vision for the middle chapter wasn't about playing it safe or satisfying every theory. It was about shifting power, challenging expectations, and, for better or worse, surprising the audience.
Gizmodo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Rian Johnson Aimed to Make the ‘Empire Strikes Back' of the ‘Star Wars' Sequels
When talking about his time in Star Wars, Rian Johnson often says that he'd like to return to that world one day, at least once he stops making murder-mystery movies and TV shows. But while fans continue to hope he'll make that once-planned trilogy one day, others can't quite get past the seeming disappointments contained in his franchise entry, The Last Jedi. In a new interview, Johnson recalls what he was told when he came aboard the Lucasfilm project. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Johnson addressed the notion that he and J.J. Abrams—who made the first and third films in the sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker—didn't communicate enough about their 2015 and 2017 Star Wars films, leading to a disjointed feeling between the two. That's not the case, Johnson said. 'We met and I spent days with him and was able to get into his head and all the choices he had made. That having been said, I communicated and I went and made the movie. And he was in the middle of Force Awakens. Ultimately, I feel like the choices in it, none of them were born out of an intent to 'undo' anything. They were all [born] out of the opposite intent of, how do I take this story that J.J. wrote, that I really loved, and these characters he created that I really loved, and take them to the next step?' An authority stepped in for some guidance at this point, Johnson said. 'Kathy [Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm] said, 'We're looking at someone to do the Empire [Strikes Back] of this series.' I took that assignment very seriously. Maybe more seriously than someone would have liked. I guess to me that didn't mean making something that just had nods to Empire—that meant trying to genuinely do what Empire did.' Whether or not Johnson's interpretation of Empire pleased fans (some people don't mind The Last Jedi!), it's clear that coming into the franchise to make the middle film in the series was no easy task. That became even tougher when Johnson tried to put his own stamp on the story so far—including, as Rolling Stone uses as an example, doing away with Snoke, the big bad set up with much fanfare in The Force Awakens. Turns out Johnson just thought Kylo Ren was a 'more compelling and complicated villain.' 'To me, I didn't easily dispense with Snoke. I took great pains to use him in the most dramatically impactful way I could, which was to then take Kylo's character to the next level and set him up as well as I possibly could. I guess it all comes down to your point of view.' And really, what would Star Wars be without heated fan debates over the choices made, on-screen and off? Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Geek Tyrant
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Rian Johnson Is Totally Chill About J.J. Abrams' STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER — GeekTyrant
Star Wars fans are pretty familiar with the tug-of-war narrative surrounding The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker . Was J.J. Abrams actively undoing everything Rian Johnson built? Was it a creative clash? A lightsaber tug-of-war between two opposing visions? According to Johnson himself, it's not that dramatic. In fact, he's fine with how it all played out. While speaking with Rolling Stone about the second season of Poker Face , Johnson said he had no hard feelings watching The Rise of Skywalker . He explained: 'When I saw the movie, I had a great time watching it. Again, this is all about point of view. I never approach this as, like, a territory I'm carving out for my thing. 'In my perspective, J.J. did the same thing with the third that I did with the second, which is not digging it up and undoing – just telling the story the way that was most compelling going forward. That means not just validating what came before, but recontextualizing it and evolving and changing as the story moves forward. I didn't feel resentful in some way.' Johnson went on to add: 'But you're talking about a movie made by my friends, with my friends in it. I sit down to watch a movie, and it's a Star Wars movie. It's all stuff I love. I'm not the one to come to for a hard-hitting critique. You can go to YouTube for that.' Despite The Last Jedi drawing a wave of online backlash back in 2017, Lucasfilm clearly had faith in Johnson's vision. He was even handed a brand-new Star Wars trilogy. But then Knives Out happened, and then its sequels, and Poker Face . And now Wake Up Dead Man drops this December. He's busy, he's thriving, and he's not losing sleep over lightsabers. Still, he hasn't ruled out a return to the galaxy far, far away. If that trilogy ever gained traction again, he'd jump on it.
Geek Tyrant
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Rian Johnson Says His STAR WARS Trilogy Was 'Very Conceptual' and Never Had an Outline or Treatment — GeekTyrant
Rian Johnson has opened up again about his Star Wars trilogy project that was announced after he made The Last Jedi, but according to him, nothing ever happened with the project. It never even got past the conceptual stage. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the Knives Out filmmaker addressed the long-standing rumors and fan questions surrounding the project. While it was ooficially announced, it was never more than a series of loose conversations with Lucasfilm. 'Nothing really happened with it,' Johnson admitted. 'We had a great time working together, and they said, 'Let's keep doing it.' I said, 'Great!' I would kick ideas around with Kathy. 'The short version is Knives Out happened. I went off and made Knives Out , and was off to the races, busy making murder mysteries. It's the sort of thing if, down the line, there's an opportunity to do it, or do something else in Star Wars , I would be thrilled. But right now I'm just doing my own stuff, and pretty happy.' Johnson's trilogy was more of a placeholder announcement than a project in active development. No scripts, no outline, not even a treatment. As he puts it, 'It was all very conceptual.' While some fans have long wondered what Johnson might've done with a blank slate in a galaxy far, far away, especially after the polarizing response to The Last Jedi , his trilogy never reached the launchpad. Back in 2022, when Johnson was asked if he might never return to the Star Wars universe, he said: '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, will we ever see Johnson return to Star Wars? He's clearly open to it. But for now, his project it litterally just ideas that would have a long long way to go to becoming a reality.
