The Mandalorian’s Dave Filoni Recalls Shadowing Rian Johnson During Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Dave Filoni has had a rich history with Star Wars. The creative has worked as a producer, writer, and director on multiple projects ranging from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels to The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Soon, Filoni will be serving as the showrunner for Star Wars: Ashoka, but first he’s busy promoting the third season of The Mandalorian.  Since he got his start in animation, Filoni had some learning to do before making the move to live-action. In fact, he recently revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he shadowed Rian Johnson during the making of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. 

“Yeah, Kathleen Kennedy and I talked from the very beginning of her coming into Lucasfilm about whether there would be opportunities for me to experiment with live-action or try it,” Filoni explained. “And she really worked at coming up with a plan to educate me and get me involved. I visited J.J. [Abrams] on The Force Awakens, I visited Gareth Edwards [on Rogue One] and I visited Rian on [The Last Jedi]. But Rian was the one who shoved me up front, sticking lenses in my hand and really getting me immersed in it. And so I still talk with him to this day. He’s obviously a very talented filmmaker, and I was just very fortunate to be in such an environment where I could sit and listen and learn.”

Is Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy Still Happening?

For years, there have been talks of Johnson returning to Star Wars, and while it still sounds like the project might still happen, nothing is currently in the works, In an interview with Variety last year, the filmmaker said he’s focused on his Netflix “whodunit” deal that will produce a Knives Out 3.

“I have talked to [Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy] about it and we’re still talking about it,” Johnson said of his announced Star Wars spinoff. “I had such an amazing experience making The Last Jedi. It’s entirely a matter of scheduling. For me, putting this [Glass Onion] out and making the next one of these [Knives Out sequels]…the answer is I don’t know.”

When asked if his Star Wars trilogy will happen, Johnson replied, “God I hope so.”

Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 3’s premiere is now streaming on Disney+.