Writer/director Rian Johnson saw his latest Benoit Blanc installment, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” reach the Netflix subscription masses over the weekend and still has something to say about “Star Wars,” despite the recent revelation (which we all assumed by a lack of official updates) that his once-in-development trilogy is essentially dead.
Speaking with Polygon to promote the new cheeky whodunnit, Johnson shared his current feelings on risk versus reward concerning the franchise, and not being afraid to “shake it up.” This comes after the “mixed” fan reaction to his attempts to do things differently in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” which still was able to earn $1.332 billion globally and led Lucasfilm to court him for a new original trilogy before those attempts ultimately fizzled out.
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“Having grown up a ‘Star Wars’ fan, I know that thing where something challenges it, and I know the recoil against that. I know how there can be infighting in the world of ‘Star Wars.’ But I also know that the worst sin is to handle it with kid gloves. The worst sin is to be afraid of doing anything that shakes it up. Because every ‘Star Wars’ movie going back to Empire and onward, shook the box and rattled fans, and got them angry, and got them fighting, and got them talking about it. And then for a lot of them, got them loving it and coming around on it eventually,” Johnson said.
A case could be made that the two seasons of “Andor” from Tony Gilroy shook things up on the small screen and mostly pivoted away from mind-numbing fan service (let’s be honest, that is getting a tad boring and predictable for an audience over the age of 12) to instead explore the deep-rooted mature themes of the franchise, including a rebellion against a fascist regime by a group of spies, who are risking their lives to combat an malevolent Empire.
We’ll have to wait and see if Lucasfilm has the stones to keep that spirit going with the upcoming slate of films. There is some minor hope that a movie like “Star Wars: Starfighter” could be something that is allowed to take extra risks, given the Shawn Levy/Ryan Gosling pic is said to be going the standalone approach and likely means the studio may have them try more new things, rather than recycling old elements with endless call-backs or references to existing “Star Wars” lore (a genuine criticism of some modern Disney+ projects).
When it comes to the future of the “Knives Out” franchise, it’s unclear if Johnson and star Daniel Craig will stick with Netflix for another round (Johnson is already teasing early ideas for a fourth untitled film) or seek a new studio partnership that allows for a greater theatrical window. With that said, “Wake Up Dead Man” can now be streamed on Netflix as Detective Benoit Blanc tackles one of his toughest murder mystery assignments.
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