Rian Johnson has a ‘Star Wars’ trilogy update that will shock fans

Despite that online halfwit insisting, “politics have no place in ‘Star Wars,’” or some nonsense about wokeness, I’m sorry to break it to you that George Lucas’ films have always been, in fact, political from the jump. It is an era where a totalitarian regime rules the galaxy with an iron fist wiping out all dissidents and agitators, after all.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Natasha Lyonne’s upcoming Peacock detective series “Poker Face” has added three new cast members, Variety has learned exclusively. Brandon Michael Hall (“God Friended Me,” “Search Party”), Colton Ryan (“The Girl From Plainville,” “Dear Evan Hansen”), and Megan Suri (“Never Have I Ever,” “The Pisasch”) have all been cast in the show. As with past casting announcements for “Poker Face,” details on their characters are being kept under wraps. Hall is repped by Gersh, Viewpoint, and Felker Toczek. Ryan is repped by Gersh and Echo Lake Entertainment. Suri is repped by Entertainment 360.

This weekend saw the big premiere of “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” at the Toronto International Film Festival. And if early reviews are to be believed, it would appear Rian Johnson has yet another major hit (and Oscar contender) coming our way.

Fans know that “Star Wars” was kept alive on the small screen long before the new string of feature films post-Disney merger. This success was due to the embrace of animated series like “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and its follow-up “Star Wars: Rebels.” In addition to the return of “Star Wars: The Bad Batch,” Disney announced at D23 this weekend that we’ll also have a brand new project in “Tales of The Jedi,” which will see six shorts focusing all on sorts of Jedi characters.

Knives Out director Rian Johnson says he will “keep making” more sequels of the whodunnit film as long as star Daniel Craig is on board.Johnson was speaking at the premiere of sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery last night (September 10) at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).Addressing the crowd before the screening, Johnson said (via Variety): “My granddad Howard Johnson traveled here tonight, he’s in the audience. Granddad, you are my role model.

It beggars belief that what started out as an idle thought — to continue the adventures of detective Benoit Blanc, the world’s “greatest detective” — has resulted not in just the inevitable franchise placeholder but one of the most exciting, funny and downright enjoyable movies of the year. Shrewdly cast, it boasts one of the most brilliant screenplays of the year, not just in terms of its exquisite, laugh-out-loud dialogue and satirical barbs at pop culture but in the meticulous, meta plotting of a traditional whodunnit that keeps the mind ticking over from start to finish. Unusually for a recent Netflix presentation, hardly a minute is wasted, and it’s no surprise that a Christmas release is planned for an intelligent crowd-pleaser that hits a bullseye with every beat.

Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion” kicks off with a giddily entertaining opening: It’s May 2020, the early days of covid, and several old friends receive, one after the other, a box. It comes from their friend Miles Braun, the eccentric tech billionaire, and it’s an elaborate puzzle box; they get each other on the phone (in a series of playful introductions and dizzily frame-slicing split-screens) and figure out how to solve the puzzle of each level, before landing on the box’s ultimate contents: an invitation to a long weekend on his private island off Greece.

Zack Sharf Consider “Glass Onion” another triumphant case for detective Benoit Blanc. As evidenced by the enthusiastic reaction to the premiere screening Saturday, Rian Johnson has again charmed the masses at the Toronto Film Festival with “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” the hotly anticipated sequel to the 2019 hit whodunit. Johnson briefly addressed moviegoers before the movie began to play, giving a sweet shoutout to his grandfather. “My granddad Howard Johnson traveled here tonight, he’s in the audience,” Johnson revealed. “Granddad, you are my role model. You’re the reason I’m making movies today, I love you so much and I’m so happy you’re here.” 

Zack Sharf Detective Benoit Blanc is back in the first trailer for Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” Daniel Craig returns in the lead role of the murder mystery sequel, but this time he will be interrogating an entirely new ensemble cast: Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick and Ethan Hawke. “Glass Onion” is set in Greece on the private island of tech billionaire Miles Bron, played by Norton, where another game of whodunnit will take place. The original “Knives Out” opened to rave reviews in November 2019 and earned $311 million at the worldwide box office, an impressive gross for an original script that’s light on action and heavy on dialogue. Johnson earned an Oscar nomination for original screenplay. Whereas Lionsgate released the first film, “Glass Onion” has the backing of Netflix after the streaming giant made a reported $450 million deal to acquire two “Knives Out” sequels.

Filmmaker Rian Johnson looked all ready and poised to join the “Star Wars” universe for a few years following the success of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” But on the way to making it, Johnson decided to do a relatively smaller, detective mystery comedy as a palette cleanser first. That film, “Knives Out” became a huge hit for Lionsgate, grossing $311.4 million off a $30 million budget.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy and Tony winner Cherry Jones (Succession), Luis Guzmán (Shameless), Hong Chau (Watchmen) and Tony winner Reed Birney (Succession) have joined the cast of Peacock’s Poker Face, a mystery drama series starring Natasha Lyonne, from Rian Johnson, his T-Street banner and MRC Television.

In the Star Wars universe, it is not an unlikely thing to see a good character turn evil or an evil one turn good. The whole Skywalker saga is about the character of Anakin Skywalker turning from good to evil to back to good. These turns are often total swaps, completely different ends of the scale.

Zack Sharf It’s been nearly five years since Rian Johnson’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” opened in theaters to rave reviews from critics (many of whom called it one of the best “Star Wars” movies ever made) and a far more divisive response from the fandom. Just before the film opened in theaters, Lucasfilm announced Johnson would be sticking with the studio to develop a brand new “Star Wars” trilogy with fresh characters, but it’s been radio silence on the plan ever since. Fans have speculated that the controversial reception to “The Last Jedi” killed Johnson’s chances of making another trilogy, but the director recently told Empire magazine that his talks with Lucasfilm continue about the project.

It’s been years since it was announced that Rian Johnson would take on a new “Star Wars” trilogy that was seemingly disconnected from the Skywalker Saga. But since that announcement, all we’ve heard is talk from Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy about how it will still happen eventually and Rian Johnson saying that he would still like to do it.

John Boyega, who was the actor behind the ex-Stormtrooper turned Resistance fighter Finn, has made it known to everyone that his time making the Star Wars sequels was not a good one. Even though Boyega had such a negative experience he is still a big Star Wars fan and keeps up with all the latest projects, most recently talking about the Obi-Wan Kenobi show that streamed on Disney Plus. One of the biggest problems John Boyega had was the lack of meaningful representation throughout the trilogy.

“The Patient,” Gleeson responded enthusiastically, “Of course I would! He was really interesting, and I think there’s a lot I could do more [with him].”However, he continued, “I don’t see them making the call. I’m not sure anybody’s clamoring for a Hux sequel or prequel.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Academy award nominated filmmaker Rian Johnson and his frequent collaborator and editor Bob Ducsay will receive the inaugural Variety Creative Collaborators award at the Middleburg Film Festival in October. The award will celebrate their collaboration on films such as “Looper,” ” Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” “We are thrilled to partner with Variety on this award and have the opportunity to celebrate the creative collaborations that are such an essential part of what makes great cinema. Rian Johnson and Bob Ducsay are the perfect team to receive the inaugural award for their many years of collaboration, most recently on the highly anticipated ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,’ which we are pleased to be screening during our festival,” said executive director of the festival Susan Koch.

It’s been years since it was announced that Rian Johnson would take on a new “Star Wars” trilogy that was seemingly disconnected from the Skywalker Saga. But since that announcement, all we’ve heard is talk from Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy about how it will still happen eventually and Rian Johnson saying that he would still like to do it.

told Empire. “When I was up at bat, I really swung at the ball.”The “Knives Out” filmmaker added that he crafted “The Last Jedi” as not just a “Star Wars” movie, but a movie about “Star Wars.”“The ultimate intent was not to strip away – the intent was to get to the basic, fundamental power of myth.