Better Call Saul is one of those occasions when a prequel series is just as good as the original, and it’s probably because it has pretty much the same team behind-the-scenes. Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan returned as the showrunner and executive producer of Better Call Saul and has delivered six solid seasons. Some of the cast and crew of Breaking Bad returned for the series with even Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul making small cameos. But one director has not returned at the helm for the prequel because he’s been busy making his own projects. Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery) didn’t return to direct the series, but it isn’t because he didn’t want to or wasn’t asked. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Johnson revealed that he was just too busy with his other projects to return.
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“Yeah, I was too busy,” Johnson revealed. “I think at some point, Melissa Bernstein got in touch about it, and I would have loved to but the reality is, it gets harder and harder to block out the time.”
What Has Rian Johnson Been Up To?
Johnson recently released a sequel to his hit film Knives Out, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on Netflix, and it continues the adventures of master Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). The film has received universal praise for what was released. But it almost included a post-credits scene that could have negated a key plot point that involves the burning of the Mona Lisa painting. In a recent interview, the director revealed that the film initially shot a post-credits scene that would have established that the Mona Lisa burned in the film was actually a fake and ultimately decided against using it.
“We also shot a little coda which we decided not to use, with Blanc on the phone speaking French and getting a little affirmation of ‘ah, oui, oui, merci’ and cutting to an office in the Louvre where the real Mona Lisa is, with the security guards saying ‘well, back to work’,” Johnson explained. “But that pulls a punch, I like that the real painting gets destroyed in the movie.”
“We got a very talented, local Belgrade artist to do a recreation of the Mona Lisa and it was kind of extraordinary having it on set,” Johnson added. “I didn’t realize this, but if you get a recreation like this, you have to destroy them when you’re done filming, if it’s a famous work of art. You actually have to document yourself burning the canvas because of the counterfeit market. Daniel was a bit worried that we were ‘killing the puppy’ by upsetting people as we destroyed the Mona Lisa, but the scene in Bean where he destroys ‘Whistler’s Mother’ is one of the funniest scenes in cinematic history, so I figured we’d get away with this. That scene is so good.”
What is Glass Onion about?
In Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Tech billionaire Miles Bron invites his friends (and Detective Benoit Blanc) for a “murder mystery party” getaway on Glass Onion, his private Greek island. However, when someone turns up dead for real, Blanc must crack the case and discover who the killer is.
The film stars Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, Edward Norton as Miles Bron, Janelle Monáe as Cassandra “Andi” Brand, Kathryn Hahn as Claire Debella, Leslie Odom Jr. as Lionel Toussaint, Jessica Henwick as Peg, Madelyn Cline as Whiskey, Kate Hudson as Birdie Jay, Dave Bautista as Duke Cody, and Ethan Hawke in a currently-unknown role. Glass Onion is one of two sequels already greenlit by Netflix.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is now available to stream exclusively on Netflix.
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