Rian Johnson May Direct Another Movie Before Returning for Star Wars

There’s plenty of reason to be excited as a Star Wars fan in 2019, especially with the release of new merchandise, the opening of the Disney Parks expansions, a brand new video game for consoles, the first live-action series for a streaming service, and not to mention the final installment in the Skywalker Saga. And while there are some new films dated for the future, there are still a lot of questions about what’s in store for the movies after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premieres in theaters.

Some people are wondering if Rian Johnson‘s planned Star Wars trilogy is in the immediate pipeline, especially after news that Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are planning their own series of films. But Johnson recently admitted in an interview that Lucasfilm is still working on the timeline, and that he might get to work on something else before his Star Wars trilogy.

“The truth is they’re still figuring out their schedule, their game plan, so if it’s possible for me to squeeze in another film before or while working on that, I will,” Johnson said to the Evening Standard.

Johnson previously gave an update on the status of his trilogy, explaining that he’s deep in the thick of crafting the story that will have nothing to do with the Skywalker saga of characters.

“I’m where I can’t say anything about it. Still completely in process with it.” Johnson explained to Uproxx. “It’s just, I don’t know. ‘It’s a process’ means it’s a process. So that means it could change, it could shift. There are a bunch of moving parts with it.”

He addressed the divisive fan response to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but admitted that it’s not affecting how he’s approaching his latest project.

“I feel like every Star Wars thing that ever gets made has a big, loud response because Star Wars fans are passionate and that’s what makes them awesome,” Johnson shared in March of last year. “I don’t think it’s possible if you’re really telling a story you care about and having it come from your heart it’s just not possible to be intellectually processing what everyone else wants. Nor would it be a healthy thing, I don’t think that’s a good way to tell a story.”

Johnson added, “It’s fun because it’s kind of thinking, ‘Okay, outside of the Skywalker story and outside of the recognizable iconography, what is this? What is Star Wars?’ Or what do we need to retain from that, to pull forward for it to still be Star Wars — and what can we leave behind?” Johnson shared in an interview last April. “They’re all the big questions that need to be thought of. And even the ones that we don’t know the answers to are things we need to figure out if Star Wars is going to be vital and alive moving forward and not just be a waxworks. We’re going to have to figure out how to tell vital new stories.”

Johnson’s next film Knives Out premieres on November 27th.