Star Wars: The Last Jedi has come and gone, and one thing the film did was to completely kill the buzz and anticipation for any further movies. Although it currently has a 91% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes, fans seems to be on the fence as to whether it was good or bad for Star Wars moving forward. Rian Johnson says he even received death threats in the wake of Last Jedi.
In a recent interview with The Standard, Johnson spoke about how the Star Wars fanbase reacted to the film. He cited that while some gave him nothing but glowing praise for the film, a dark side of Star Wars fandom also reared its ugly head:
“I knew intellectually what I was letting myself in for, but then when it happens you’re like, oh my God, this is intense. It’s about knowing you’re not going to please everyone. But then you still read someone saying they wish you were dead and it’s going to ruin your day.
There were death threats. It’s balanced by a few things – 90 percent of the stuff I got online was not only lovely and encouraging but phenomenally thoughtful. Fans would send me essays on the movie. The other 10 percent is just loud and gets amplified. At first I was freaked out but then I realized the things people were angry about are the things I’m most proud about.”
The Last Jedi pulled in $1.3 billion worldwide at the box office, so some would say that it’s hard to call this film bad. It does have its flaws, and stomps on a lot of core things that fans held dear, which is part of the reason for this backlash. Critics loved the film, because through a critical lens the film is well done. This is the disconnect that Rian has with fans. It is the studios intent to make a good film, but is it worth the risk to alienate half of the fanbase to arguably the largest fanbase in geekdom? I would venture to say no. There is a better way to handle those characters, while still telling your story.
These comments from Rian come int he wake of comments he made at SXSW last week. Where he told The L.A. Times that Star Wars as a franchise needs to grow and change in order to survive:
“When people ask me, ‘Don’t you think people are going to get sick of Star Wars movies?’ to me that question indicates that they’re thinking of Star Wars movies as a museum exhibit that is wheeled out once a year so you can say, ‘Oh, I loved that thing. Oh, I remember that thing!’ And yes, if Star Wars is that, people are going to get sick of it really quickly.
But if Star Wars are great new movies that are exciting and fresh, and that challenge you and surprise you and make you feel things and engage you the way that those original movies did – but always taking you to new places, both in the galaxy and emotionally – that’s never going to get old. That’s what it’s all about.”
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is available on home video now. The next Star Wars film hitting theaters will be the anthology film Solo: A Star Wars Story, hitting theaters on May 25.
