Rian Johnson to Direct a New Non-Skywalker-Centric ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy

The folks over at Lucasfilm, Emperor Kennedy included, must be really impressed with the job Rian Johnson did directing and writing The Last Jedi, because they're looking to keep him around for a while. An announcement was made yesterday on StarWars.com that Johnson would be creating a brand new Star Wars trilogy that won't focus on the Skywalker clan and its inner circle. 

Johnson will write and direct the first film in this new trilogy, which StarWars.com describes thusly...

In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.

So at least we know that Lucasfilm is looking to do more than just rehash the same stories and characters over and over again until the end of time, which is a good sign. The only thing that might have the fans concerned is the fact that we haven't seen The Last Jedi yet, and therefore don't know precisely what to expect from Johnson's contributions to the SW mythology. 

For his part, Johnson is a capable enough filmmaker and seems to have earned enough goodwill working with Lucasfilm for them to entrust him with creating his own new and unique Star Wars trilogy. Finger crossed that The Last Jedi turns out alright, though we'll all find out for sure on December 15.