Rian Johnson: Not ‘Spooked’ By “Jedi” Backlash

“Knives Out” filmmaker Rian Johnson has shut down a claim by his former Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy in a recent interview.

In a recent Deadline exit interview, Kennedy spoke about Johnson not returning to the franchise following the divisive reception to his 2017 film “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”. Reflecting on the experience of the film, she said:

“I do believe he got spooked by the online negativity. I think Rian made one of the best ‘Star Wars’ movies. He’s a brilliant filmmaker and he got spooked. This is the rough part. When people come into this space, I have every filmmaker and actors say to me, ‘What’s going to happen?’ They’re a little scared.”

Johnson has now responded on X to an IGN story on those comments from Kennedy, saying in his post: “Lol zero spooked, sorry.”

Johnson was set to develop a new “Star Wars” trilogy after ‘Last Jedi’, but his focus shifted to the “Knives Out” franchise and the project effectively died. He revealed last Summer it was never in any serious development stage.

He has indicated he is open to returning to the “Star Wars” universe at some point, but is busy with his own projects at this time.