Rian Johnson, director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, says the debate generated by his film is a “joy”, and that he looks at the situation with fondness.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi may now be yesterday’s news but the film certainly caused a lot of commotion upon release. And we’re not just talking about massive box office numbers, as the film turned out to be quite divisive with many reacting obscenely towards the director.
Rian Johnson, however, has never been disillusioned by the reaction and appreciates that such a passionate conversation has been started by the film. Speaking to ComicBook.com about the social media feedback, Johnson expressed his delight at the response:
“I guess to me it’s less arguments, it’s more … I don’t know, and I’m still feeling my way forward in terms of how I do it.
“The truth is, since my first movie, Brick, which was a very small indie movie, I’ve been on the Internet and it’s always been a fun part of it for me, talking to the fans and talking to people and hearing their reactions to the movie and talking to them about it.
“To me, you spend so long making these films, it’s all about putting them out there and hearing what people think,” Johnson explained. “So for me, that’s always been part of the joy of it, and this has been no different.”
SEE ALSO: Rian Johnson praises Solo: A Star Wars Story
Ultimately, Johnson just seems overjoyed that audiences have such a strong reaction to the film, for better or for worse:
“It’s so good, it’s been such a blast for the past month. Like I feel like it was such a long build up to putting the movie out there. Everyone involved put so much into it, and now to finally give it to the fans and just to see the explosion of people relating to it and people talking about it, people arguing about it, all the good stuff that you want when you put something out there, it’s been that all over the place. It’s been really wonderful and fun.”
Now, Johnson would surely have been just as delighted if the film received universal praise from fans to match that of critics, but the director does genuinely seem pleased about the conversations and debates taking place.
It will certainly be interesting to see the reaction to the first film in his announced Star Wars trilogy, whenever it releases.
In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb) and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) as DJ and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park)
