WithRogue Onenow marching on at the box office, Lucasfilm and Disney are finally ready to turn their attention towards marketingStar Wars: Episode VIII. The first order of business, which happened earlier this week, wasannouncing the title:Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Ominous! And now a new interview with writer/directorRian Johnsonhas surfaced that offers the tiniest bit of insight into his take on theStar Warsuniverse.
Johnson is, obviously, picking up the baton fromJ.J. Abramswho essentially rebooted theStar Warsuniverse withStar Wars: The Force Awakens, crafting a new trilogy for modern audiences. Johnson serves as both writer and director onThe Last Jedi, and unlikeForce AwakensorRogue One, we haven’t yet heard of any outside writer being brought in for a rewrite. So it’s possibleThe Last Jedicould be our first true auteur-drivenStar Warsmovie since theGeorge Lucasfilms.
Johnson’s previous efforts (Brick,The Brothers Bloom,Looper) are all unique and yet wholly different from one another, so audiences have been curious to see just what kind ofStar Warsmovie he’ll put together. He previously teased some filmic influences for the film, including the 1949 war filmTwelve O’Clock High, and in speaking withEmpirehe reiterated that influence while revealing a couple more:
“Twelve O’Clock Highwas a big touchstone, for the feel and look of the aerial combat as well as the dynamic between the pilots.Three Outlaw Samuraifor the feel of the sword-fighting, and the general sense of pulpy fun. AndTo Catch A Thiefwas a great film to rewatch, for the romantic scale and grandeur.”
To Catch a Thiefis the most curious influence of the bunch there, and as Johnson is well-versed in classic cinema, it kind of makes sense that he’d turn toAlfred Hitchcock’s romantic thriller for a sense of scale and sweeping fun.
Johnson said he’s currently in the thick of editing, but when asked what the hardest thing about writingStar Warsdialogue was, he offered up a somewhat surprising answer:
“I found myself constantly wanting to push modern idioms into the dialogue, and sometimes that can work, but you have to be very careful. If you go too far you can break thatStar Warsspell. The other challenge is the tech talk, which has to be simultaneously complex enough to sound real and conceptually simple enough to follow. The original films were brilliant at that.”
Indeed, the use of modern idioms is something I hadn’t considered, and while Lucasfilm is no doubt making these newStar Warsfilms for a modern audience, they’realsowanting them to work seamlessly with the previous films, and thus carry a timeless quality.
Johnson is an incredibly talented filmmaker, andThe Last Jedicontinues to sound like one hell of aStar Warsmovie. The film is slated for release on December 15th.
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