Looper director Rian Johnson can hardly believe himself that he is the chosen one to direct the next chapter in the newly revived Star Wars saga. "I can only assume it was a clerical error like in the movie Brazil," Johnson joked during a podcast interview for Filmspotting. "There's a Brian Johnson out there who is really mad."
The Star Wars Episode 8 director is not only helming episode 8, he is also part of Star Wars Episode 9 as a developer.
Rian Johnson is best known for his films Brick, and directing three outstanding episodes of the hit TV series, Breaking Bad. Needless to say, this up-and-coming talent is beyond excited at his being assigned to work on Star Wars. "[The] thought of it made me so completely, joyfully happy. I wanted to play in this world, of literally, the first movie my dad put me in the car to see."
As with the other Star Wars movies, this next one is shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Johnson could only divulge that he is "really excited about all the things I can't tell you."
But what the 40-year-old director of The Brothers Bloom can tell you is that as the Star Wars Episode 8 director, he and his team have been watching movies every night in preparation for the very big shoes they would have to fill. "It's like summer camp," the writer-director shared.
Two of the last movies they watched were the WWII drama Twelve O'Clock High, starring Gregory Peck, and the 1959 Russian movie Letter Never Sent directed by Mikhail Kalatozov.
The choice of Johnson is the latest in the strategy that Disney is following, of getting budding, talented directors to take over their Star Wars movies. These includes Godzilla's Gareth Edwards, and Chronicles' Josh Trank.
While we wait for 2017 to see just what Star Wars Episode 8 director Rian Johnson has in store for us, Star Wars Episode VII by J.J. Abrams will hit cinemas in December, 2015.
