Rian Johnson and Star Wars might be a pairing that causes alarm bells to ring in the minds of fans, but it seems the director would like to work with a galaxy far, far away once more.
Speaking to The Independent, Johnson was asked if he would like to do another Star Wars movie. "I've had the kind of experience that you only dream about as a filmmaker. I was in my twenties when the prequels came out," he said. "I mean, you talk about wars between Star Wars fans... We experienced our own. That [the prequels] was World War I, and this [The Last Jedi] was World War II."
"But I feel like I've had such a wonderful, lovely, positive experience with the fans during the course of it. That's left me a bigger Star Wars fan than I ever was, which is really something, because I grew up with it as the bedrock of my childhood," he continued. When asked if he would return to make his own trilogy - something that was announced weeks before The Last Jedi's release and abandoned since - Johnson said: "I mean, I kind of went down the murder mystery rabbit hole - I'm focused on making other stuff. But that wouldn't rule out it happening down the line. If I get back in the Star Wars universe someday, I'd be the happiest person."
Star Wars' eighth movie was well-received by critics, but it was quite the turning point for the franchise in how much fan backlash it got. Some have since softened on it, but it is often seen as the linchpin of the sequel trilogy's failures, and we're not sure Johnson's relationship with fans could ever heal.