Rian Johnson is a pretty brave person to continue to make movies after directing The Last Jedi. Not because that movie was bad (though that’s a whole different conversation) but because of the intricate stories he was tasked with telling for such a wide range of fans. He knew it was impossible to make everyone happy, but he still made a memorable Star Wars installment, whether you like it or not.
But when it was time for Jonhson to pen the follow-up to the hit murder mystery Knives Out, Johnson said that the pressure was even greater than when he was directing in a galaxy far far away. “[Glass Onion] is a very different animal for a couple of reasons,” Johnson told The Los Angeles Times when asked about how making this movie compares to The Last Jedi.
“First of all, Last Jedi was actually a proper sequel, continuing the events from a movie that I didn’t write. With [Glass Onion] it’s not even really a sequel, it’s kind of like another book, basically another mystery with the same detective,” Johnson explained. The second instalmment features Daniel Craig returning as Detective Benoit Blanc alongside a fresh new cast of suspects.
Johnson continued that this made it harder for him to pen the story, because he was granted a whole new slate. “If anything, going into it was a little scarier even than the Star Wars movie, because the first one, when we made it, it was in such a vacuum and we had no idea if people would be into this kind of thing. Genuinely, it was just something that I really loved, a genre I loved, and I’m like, ‘Let’s try this.'” When the movie became an unexpected hit, Johnson became worried that he couldn’t deliver a worthwhile sequel.
“The fact that people enjoyed [Knives Out] and the fact that it was popular — when you put something out there, this happens anyway, but especially, I think, in this case — it becomes something outside of you and you kind of forget how you made it. And so, it was scary. I’ve never experienced nerves quite like actually sitting down to write something. I also spent 10 years planning Knives Out, whereas this, I was kind of starting from scratch.”
Based on the glowing early reviews, it seems like starting from scratch was the way to go for this one. That definitely was not the case for The Last Jedi, but who can blame Johnson for that?! Daniel Craig can’t save every franchise out there, after all.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery premieres December 23 on Netflix.
