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

Showrunners usually tend to have creative backgrounds as opposed to the business side of things... although the best showrunners have a good eye for both.

I think the pro's of having a 'single vision' (in terms of the creative side) far outweigh the chances of that approach scaring off outside talent... be it other writers or directors. KK certainly shouldn't/wouldn't be clashing with a showrunner... as she should be in the 'producer' role. I think that's the best model to have I.e. Exec producer/producer, showrunner with writers/directors working in conjunction with the showrunner.

 

If someone is intending to run a film franchise like a tv show, then you need someone in charge to tell the writers what kind of stories do you want to see.

The most successful series often have a good writer running the show, one that actually write his own stories.

 

whoever that ends up as a showrunner must head the story group. You cannot have who different parties clashing head over what sort of direction you want for the SW franchise.

 

Where has this idea come from that they are planning on running the films as a TV series?

If anything they'll be following a Marvel template. Paul Feig runs that. KK is Paul Feig. Other directors may give input and help shape, but they are not calling the shots.

GL hired KK to run the show. She is not about to hand that off to another director. She may hire the same director more than once, but there was never any official word that JJ would be helping all three films.

 

I think some people may have made too many assumptions early on about how involved JJ would be in the later ST films after it was announced that he was directing Ep. 7. That earlier assumption on their part has kind of necessitated new assumptions now about why he's not doing Ep. 8 (he hates Disney, Disney hates him, he hates England, England hates him, etc.).

 

Exactly. I think Al and Devin were hearing some rumblings about how JJ was angling to assume control, but that's about the sum of it as far as I can gather. Not that that means there wasn't necessarily some traction in that, but I always thought it would have been pretty surprising for them to shift from the original "fresh directors per film" plan and hand the keys over to JJ, especially as that would have effectively been sidelining KK (IMO anyway).

 

I disagree to a large extent. Yeah it was an assumption that JJ would be involved past Episode 7, but I think it was a very fair assumption. Even Burton was the producer for Batman Forever. I think it was safe to say that JJ's involvement would extend throughout the trilogy.

Looking at the change in writer and director made a lot sense for the sake of speeding up the process. JJ cannot do any writing while he is directing. Of course nobody can do any filming until the crew is finished with Ep7. However, producing is one thing.

Now, they MAY have announced Ram Bergman as producer for Episodes 8 (and 9?) while JJ is still filming Episode 7. Then, when Episode 7 is finished filming, JJ may join Ram and Rian (as well as Kennedy) during the main production phase.

That being said, I am not sure why they wouldn't announce JJ as producer already,unless it is assumed.

 

It seems to me that the OT and the PT had a very successful model. I'm not sure why changing that very successful model would be automatically viewed as a 'good thing'. As already stated, I'll be glad to see the back of Abrams... but as it stands Mission Impossible and Star Trek will take more room up on his CV than SW... and I wasn't expecting that to be the case given his undying 'love' for it. IF Ep VII is his only contribution, I'd suggest that this is either JJ having problems with the gig or Lucasfilm wanting him gone. I don't for a second think this was the original intention.

 

If the story is already mostly mapped out, and George hand-picked KK to run things, I have faith in her, as I do in Johnson's ability to write and direct the next instalment. These people are far more experienced than any of us on here, KK is one of the shrewdest in the game, and they seem to be attracting very bright young talent.

I think they know what they're doing better than any of us on here. I've also heard it was/ and has been the original intention to have JJ direct one then hand on the baton. Will be interesting to see if he remains involved in an exec capacity, but let's also not forget the role the story group will play in ensuring consistency of overall vision.

Also, PJ, what's with quoting "his love" as if that's some kind of stick to hit him with. He's a massive fan of SW. So will virtually every director they hire (in fact all of the other directors so far) . I don't see what that has to do with anything, other than grinding the old JJ axe again.

 

If you're doing all three of the ST, that's you giving up at least 6/7 years of your life to one of the most high pressure jobs there is. I can see most directors quite happy to be only offered one (even if they would love to do more, if that makes sense). A lot of these guys will have other projects they want to tackle without being tied to SW for the best part of a decade.

 

That's what I would have thought too. Although they may keep the option open?

If they hire Rian for both now, then I agree, that would lend a little more credence to the idea that there must have been reasons JJ didn't take on/ wasn't offered all three.

 

Maybe the most important bit of SW wisdom Lucas imparted was: Don't subject the new directors to burnout.

He was burnt out by RotJ, and IMO it shows.

 

I could see that too. If Rian has been picked, the decision will not have been made on a whim and will have been some time in the works.

 

I wonder if LK will end up doing a pass on RJ's script (assuming this all happens). Will LK become the Wade and Purvis of the SW universe now?

 

I hope they keep him around as long as possible, even if it's just as a pair of eyes and a sounding board. I think he really gets the pulpy, adventure tone of the genre.

 

But he's quite happy to be 'tied' to Mission Impossible and Star Trek?

 

Well, look, a) I was talking about directors in general, and b) I don't know how it all shakes down. JJ took those opportunities on at a different stage in his career. He set them up, then he moved on. We don't know if JJ will be involved in a producer's role moving forward or not yet.

 

To me it's not a question as to how Rian Johnson will do. To me it is the fact that we now have a director who has just begun Episode VII but knows he will not be returning in any fashion for the others and it may not have been his decision OR it is his decision but something caused him to leave the project after this one (and no, it's not the "doesn't want to leave his family" bit).

It's hard to have the motivation to give your 100% if that's the case. Lucas didn't give his 100% in the prequels and it showed. It almost can't not affect the way things progress with Episode VII. If 100% effort isn't given for Ep7, it doesn't matter who is hired to Episode 8 or 9. Episode 7 is do or die. It pretty much HAS to excel to regain the excitement lost from the prequels.

We have to hope this was an amicable agreement between Abrams and the rest and should hope that he is passing the baton graciously. Not for Episode 8 or 9 but for 7.