Second Movie Twist: Rian Johnson To Write, DIrect Star Wars: Episode VIII

So given how generally excited fandom has been that J. J. Abrams was chosen to take over Star Wars from George Lucas for Episode VII, the consensus that, given Abrams’s work on Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, he was the best possible choice to work on the franchise, and that Abrams has said that directing Star Wars was a dream gig, it’s probably safe to say that he’ll be helming the movies well beyond Episode VII, right?

Right?

Rian Johnson will write and direct the eighth “Star Wars” movie, inheriting the franchise from J.J. Abrams, according to two individuals with knowledge of the director’s plans. Johnson will also write the treatment for the ninth movie, but he will not direct it.

Huh. Okay, that was fast.

Normally, I’d take these Hollywood trade / gossip journal stories with a grain of salt until the primary players actually comment on them, but considering Johnson just Tweeted this…

…it’s probably safe to say that this is a go.

When it comes to science fiction, Johnson’s best known for Looper, the time travel flick with Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and when I say “best known” I of course mean, “only known.” And frankly, Looper was only okay. However, Johnson’s first movie, Brick, while not being science fiction, is fucking awesome. It’s a high school drama played like a Raymond Chandler novel, with a real wit to the plot and the dialogue, and if you haven’t seen it, you can watch it for free on Comcast / XFinity On Demand right not. Go ahead, I’ll wait. You’ll thank me later.

But even if you haven’t seen Brick, Johnson has also done some TV directing in between movies. He did an episode of Terriers, and one or two episodes of a little cable show you’ve probably never heard of. One of them was about a bug, and the other was just some pulpy little crime payoff story.

So yeah: this is at least interesting, it not really damn exciting.

(via The Wrap)