Star Wars Rumor Once Again Claims Rian Johnson's Trilogy Is Dead

Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson just can't seem to catch a break. The filmmaker is still getting serious flack from Star Wars trolls who can't get over \his unique vision in The Last Jedi, and that hate has now morphed into continuous assault on the new Star Wars trilogy that Johnson has been working on, as the Skywalker saga comes to a close with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker this holiday season.

Debate over the merits of Rian Johnson continuing to shape Star Wars has become so divisive that even the industry's biggest pundits can't seem to agree on the matter. Case in point: YouTube critic John Campea is now reporting the rumor that Lucasfilm has killed Johnson's new trilogy - despite the fact that it was Campea who also blasted outlets for running the inaccurate rumor that Johnson's Star Wars trilogy was canceled earlier this year. According to Campea this time, the recent announcement of three new Star Wars movies dates are meant to slate the new trilogy being developed by Game of Thrones showrunners, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff:

"As we all know, there are new Star Wars movies coming - but not for another three years after Star Wars: Episode IX finally hits theaters," Campea said on his YouTube Show. He later continued with, "There have previously been erroneous reports - and we're going back six months or more now - that Rian Johnson's trilogy was done, and that got debunked. However, last night I got contacted by somebody in a position of knowledge of the situation, who let me know that the Star Wars dates - 2022, 2024, 2026 - are in fact all [David] Benioff and [D.B.] Weiss' movies. That they do not have anything on the schedule for Rian Johnson's Star Wars films, and, according to this particular source, Rian Johnson's thing was basically done. He may actually be consulting on with Benioff and Weiss about their trilogy, but that his thing was off."

Campea goes on to claim that he followed up with a different source, who couldn't confirm that Johnson's trilogy is done, but could confirm that the 2022, 2024, and 2026 Star Wars movie dates are definitely for Benioff and Weiss' trilogy. He then goes on to argue that one of his sources was the one who broke the Ben Affleck leaving Batman news first - before going on to undercut his own credibility by saying Disney has confirmed nothing that his sources are saying, and that he has been embarrassingly wrong on several big "scoops" before. It then morphs into Campea's defense of not wanting this to happen, but simply being the guy burdened with this knowledge, and a responsibility of sharing it.

Bottom line: take all this with a huge grain of salt.

All we know for sure right now, is that there are dates set for three new Star Wars films. We have no idea if those three dates are all for one trilogy (either Johnson's or the GoT guys), or meant to alternate between multiple new installments of the franchise (Johnson and the GoT guys). Given the continued backlash against The Last Jedi, it's possibly Lucasfilm no longer felt confident in backing Johnson, but it's also just as possible that Campea is simply wrong. Again.

For his part, Rian Johnson confirmed that he's still at work on his films, back when the cancellation rumor first dropped. There's also been evidence that that production is indeed moving forward.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20th.

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