'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' News, Release Date: Director Rian Johnson Shares How 'Star Wars' Fandom Helped Him Write, Direct the Film
"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" director and writer Rian Johnson is one of those few "Star Wars" fans who got to live the dream of working on a "Star Wars" movie. Recently, the filmmaker revealed how huge of a fan he was and how this had helped him create the eighth installment of the franchise.
In a recent interview for the Star Wars Show web series, Johnson said his "Star Wars" fandom has helped him a lot in writing and directing the movie, particularly in avoiding the pressures that usually come with it. He admitted following the footsteps of George Lucas, who also trusted his inner fan in doing the original "Star Wars" movies.
"The first thing I kind of realized was, I have to trust, kind of, my inner fan," he shared. "If it resonates with me, I have to trust that."
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Johnson also said trusting his inner fan made it more comfortable for him to start working on a plot for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." He shared the upcoming film was the most fun thing he had ever written, especially because he was not alone in the process.
During the interview, Johnson recounted how he transferred to San Francisco and stayed there for a few months to think about the direction he would take for "Star Wars 8." He then sat down with Kiri Hart from Lucasfilm and her story group team and brainstormed until they all came up with the final output.
"Having that kind of gut check—not just for, 'Wait, don't do that,' but for, 'Yeah, you can do that, if that's interesting to you, take that path'—having that permission from somebody, I think that had a lot to do with it," he said.
"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is expected to do better than the franchise's previous outing, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which earned $2 billion at the global box office. The film is set for release on Dec. 15.
