Rian Johnson to Direct ‘Star Wars’ Episode VIII

Rian Johnson

by Nur Hussein, staff writer

Disney has enlisted Rian Johnson, director and writer of the hit sci-fi time travel movie Looper, to direct Star Wars Episode VIII. He is also tasked with writing a treatment for Episode IX.

Johnson previously wrote and directed comedy caper The Brothers Bloom in 2008, and a relatively low-budget crime drama, Brick, in 2005. Additionally, he has directed three episodes of AMC’s television drama Breaking Bad. However, it is for 2012 film Looper starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis that Johnson has received the most critical and fan praise, as it is described as a “thought-provoking” and “original” sci-fi story. It is interesting to see how Johnson will fare on the big-budget blockbuster production of Star Wars, but he does look like he has the chops to pull off good sci-fi.

Johnson’s career in film was inspired largely by the 1977 movie Annie Hall, a film that won that year’s academy award for Best Picture (that ironically, Star Wars lost out to). Johnson has not commented on his new job yet, but he did post a youtube clip of Scott Glenn as Alan Shepard in the 1983 film, The Right Stuff, where Shepard says “Dear Lord, please don’t let me f*** up.”

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Nur Hussein

Nur is a tinkerer of programmable things, an apprentice in an ancient order of technomages. He enjoys fantasy, sci-fi, comic books, and Lego in his spare time. His favourite authors are Asimov and Tolkien. He also loves Celtic and American folk music. You can follow him on twitter: @nurhussein