ST Rian Johnson to write and direct Episode VIII (and also new SW Trilogy - see page 194)

@anakinfansince1983

When it comes to Breaking Bad, RJ has the distinction of directing the one episode that fans did not really like overall (split down the middle I say), "The Fly". It's loved by critics though. Ironic huh?

 

Basically how I view it as well. It’s actually some of the less conventional things he does thad I find myself admiring most oddly enough as well. It’s a weird mix of blockbuster accessibility competing with some art house sensibilities. I enjoy the mix. It is subjective though.

@anakinfansince1983 , I know that you didn’t make the statement yourself & are merely trusting the asdement of others but so think it’s an off base generalization, rooted mostly in frustration over TLJ, to liken the characters JGL played in Brick & Looper, to the Brothers Bloom, & Kylo Ren. Quite frankly, the only thing these characters have in common is the color of their skin & brown hair.

 

To be honest, the success of this trilogy will depend more upon how well it's sold conceptually to general audiences, and less upon their reaction to The Last Jedi. And it will be a tough sell no doubt.

 

Lucasfilm will need good Marketing, they failed pretty much with Solo in that department

 

@ewoksimon

The backbone of any tentpole franchise are the hardcore fans. Not only do they rack up the $$$ with repeated movies but they the ones who get reved up the excitement/juice for the film that really brings in the casual fans/general audience members as the film becomes a "happening" (see Incredibles 2 right now for reference). That is what so wrong with Solo. For a whole slew of reasons hardcore Star Wars fans were just not interested in Solo and therefore it fell flat on it's face with casual fans/general audience members.

This is going to be an extremely difficult sell unless JJ as movie magic in him for Episode IX that suddenly lifts the franchise up again. And while I said a thousand times I think JJ is an incredible craftsman when it comes to filmmaking (though his storytelling can be spotty at times) I seriously doubt he has that in him for Episode IX and tbf that should not he asked of JJ either as that is way too big of an expectation for it.

 

The backbone is always general audiences not repeat viewings of hardcore fans. You may see it 3 or four times but a family of 5 is always going to bring in more money. If hardcore fans were the backbone Blade Runner 2049 would’ve made bank.

From most accounts Star Wars fans were pretty A okay with Solo. It failed with the general audiences though. Hell I loved it but most of my friends just were not interested because “wasn’t about Rey”.

RJ’s trilogy is being touted as the next “main storyline” going forward. That’s what general audiences want - momentum. The next big adventure. After today’s rumours it’s more and more clear that Disney and LFL do not want to stagnate but instead move forward. Johnson and Beinoff/Weiss are their guys to do it.

 

I mentioned this in the box office thread, but did anyone notice how friggin' early Disney released the live-action Dumbo teaser?

Like Solo, it's a big tentpole that "no one asked for." But unlike Solo, they dropped the first teaser NINE AND A HALF MONTHS in advance as opposed to a ridiculous 3 months. It looks like Disney is already learning their lesson. The average moviegoer doesn't follow SW movie news or rumors or controversies. The average moviegoer does need to be "hit over the head" with a long, insistent marketing campaign.

 

That’s because they had nothing to show anyone. According to reports Howard had to reshoot like 70 - 90% of the movie so Solo was filmed twice. There was a very good marketing plan for Solo they just trashed it when Lord and Miller got fired. Disney also has their plan for their other movies and they weren’t going to sacrifice or mess with an existing plan just to prop up Solo which is why it got stuck in May and why there are reports now about them getting more focused on their productions. The behind the scenes at LFL have been a mess lately and they are going to clean it up.

 

Then they should have delayed it. It didn't need to be December...it could have been August. Either way, you cannot in any circumstance begin tentative marketing for a big movie that needs to make 600M just THREE months before release. That's insanity.

 

They have other movies that they have coming out I believe that it's Christopher Robin in August and Ant-Man and the Wasp. It looks like the best place to put it would have been September/October but that's typically Oscar movie season so maybe that's why they didn't release it but they really should have just moved it there. I agree they should have delayed it, however, Lord and Miller should never have been hired in the first place, the problem started there and LFL is a subsidiary of Disney and they need to look out for their overall business, not just LFL and canceling it wasn't an option. I am wondering if they should have just released the Lord and Mill version and stuck with their original plans in the first place now.

In any case, the handling of Solo has drastically affected LFL and they seem to just be working on one project at a time now for all of their divisions with Episode IX being the only project in active production currently. We will see what the next project is to go into active production sometime after they are satisfied with IX or after it's release.

 

Overall, I think it would be pretty uncontroversial to say that one lesson LFL will take away from all that has happened recently is that they have to be much more careful and deliberate with this IP. They simply cannot afford (literally and figuratively) to churn out movies with 'Star Wars' in their title and hope for the best. That means avoiding reshoots, which screws up both the budget and the marketing, and changing directors around. This also means they're going to have to run a much tighter ship, and make sure that everything is moving in conjunction with everything else.

I wonder how that would go with someone like RJ who clearly wants to take a lot of risks and explore completely different ideas.

 

I wonder as well I get the feeling just based on the way RJ creates movies that his trilogy either won't see the light of day or they are going to shift it's focus to something more of a stand-alone type of series and test the waters first. I just can't see them saying this is your new Star Wars and having them stand behind RJ. The other possibility is that they go in a completely other direction with someone we have never heard about as well to start building out the future of Star Wars get the franchise stable and bring RJ back at a later time to tell his stories. Or he could work really well with some great people and come up with an amazing trilogy which I think is the least likely of those options but it is very much one. We will have to wait and see it's going to be a long 18 months in Star Wars fandom at least movie-wise!

 

In spite of the box office, I'm very glad Kennedy didn't just shrug and release the Lord & Miller version. Forget short-term losses. Get it right and make a movie that will hold up over the long haul, which I believe Solo will. They ended up with a movie that satisfied a lot of fans, even those who disliked TLJ, and I think people are going to be discovering or reevaluating the movie when they watch it on TV/streaming over the coming years.

 

It wasn't just KK it was Bob Iger that approved the extra money to fix the film but because they decided to fix it we got what we got. Solo was fine didn't love it, didn't hate it either. LFL was just put in a very difficult position as they are no longer an independent studio that can release their films when they want. They need to work in the larger whole that is Disney with regards to releases etc. Maybe that's part of LFL's biggest problem that they are now part of Disney and aren't as independent anymore, which makes the production and decision-making process more complex. Many people will find and enjoy Solo in the coming years and fixing it was the right decision as they would have lost more money canceling the whole thing. I think KK was very lucky that she got approval to fix Solo with all of the issues she has had with directors recently.

We should get back on topic now though

 

My personal preferences aside (I don't want him near another SW movie again), I think that, at some point, LFL will announce RJ will have a co-writer for his trilogy, or just be relieved of writing entirely, while still directing. This would allow them to save face and claim that they're sticking to their original creative vision, while also throwing an olive branch to whatever part of the audience really is alienated by RJ's take on the movie.

A sort of "wink wink, you know we'll never admit you might have a point, but you do agree that TLJ was beautifully shot, right? Thats what you all said when trying to sound reasonable about your complaints. Well, imagine RJ's cinematography with a script by Timothy Zah- oh, you've already pre-ordered your tickets? We never doubted you, and we forgive you for doubting us, this was our plan all along."

 

Me personally, I think Fly is one of the best episodes of the show, and I’ve thought so since before I had any vested interest in Rian Johnson. I think a lot of the issues fans have with it is it’s a bottle episode, and really the only bottle episode the show has, which only delves into its characters and doesn’t advance the plot at all. That’s down to the writing, which Johnson isn’t responsible for. The directing is fantastic, as is what Johnson did with the limitations handed to him.

 

I literally had no idea he even directed those episodes until after I'd already watched and enjoyed the series. Both of his episodes made the top 10 BB episodes of all time ranking here:

https://variety.com/gallery/breaking-bad-best-episodes-ranked-amc/#!7/fly
https://variety.com/gallery/breaking-bad-best-episodes-ranked-amc/#!10/ozymandias

It's kind of interesting because Fly was psychological and offbeat and not really about the fly at all. It felt different than some other episodes. It definitely did divide fans (Love/hate again with few middle opinions) and then Ozymandias is super bleak and features Walt failing horribly in many ways.

 

I have to admit that RJ playing in the SW sandbox appealed to me back when he was announced as the director of TLJ. When it was subsequently announced he'd get his own trilogy I bought into the hype. I've enjoyed his work in the past, especially the Breaking Bad work.

That being said, though I am no fan of TLJ by any stretch of the imagination, I could still get on board with him doing something different, yet familiar in that sandbox. Let him have his own characters, his own situations, and his own direction for those things. Let him start his own legacy in the GFFA if he can - I see nothing wrong with that. After all, RO did something different, yet familiar - a new trilogy could be exceptional...

...or it could divide fandom even further. Who knows? But I think it's worth keeping an open mind about at least.

I still won't see it opening weekend though, but I will eventually see it.

 

At this point we are at now, with the fandom being so divided and Johnson's name being mud to an ever growing contingent, i wouldn't risk keeping him on even just as a director anymore. As far as his breaking bad work goes, Fly and Ozymandias are directed beautifully and are two of the best episodes of Breaking Bad. Ozymandias being my personal favorite.

 

Oh, I love that one! I had no idea he did that one too. Crazy. That's also a psychological one about Walt's increasing ego. I love how his idea of living large is buying a Chrysler 300 top of the line model! But what do you expect from a former high school teacher who previously drove a Pontiac Aztek! And then he gets his son the Dodge Challenger to be the cool dad. Great episode.

 

While I didn't care for TLJ all that much, I will keep an open mind about his potential trilogy. He did get the movie done ahead of schedule with little drama, that alone will give him thumbs up with Disney and TLJ did make a good profit I would imagine.

I realize that publicly he seemed pretty dismissive of criticisms, but perhaps privately I would hope that he is open minded enough to perhaps incorporate some ideas from other folks.