Rian Johnson on Knives Out: “It’s not like I was thirsting for something I didn’t get from Star Wars: The Last Jedi”

Rian Johnson's new murder mystery, Knives Out, has been winning rave reviews across the board. Although featuring an all-star cast, the whodunit – which tells an original story – is a galaxy away from his last feature-length movie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Speaking to our sister magazine Total Film, Johnson discussed going from directing LucasFilm blockbuster to Agatha Christie-esque tale.

"The funny thing is, it’s not like I was thirsting for something I didn’t get from Star Wars: The Last Jedi," he says. "It’s not like I was dying to get back to something that was – quote-unquote – mine. If anything, the fun of Knives Out was writing large amounts of verbose dialogue, which is something you don’t do on Star Wars movies. I got to indulge myself on this, and that was fun. 

"Obviously, I’m still working with Lucasfilm and talking to them about Star Wars, but I’m also thinking about my own stuff. Until now, I’ve never thought in terms of sequels to any of the movies I’ve made, but I had so much fun doing this, and Daniel and I had so much fun working together, that the idea of doing another Benoit Blanc mystery is really appealing to me, in a new location, with a new cast, just treating it like Agatha Christie would treat another book. That would be a blast."

Johnson went on to discuss Knives Out at length, including how he assembled the cast, which includes Daniel Craig, Toni Collette and Ana De Armas. You can read the entire interview in the latest issue of Total Film magazine, available now.

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