News Rian Johnson Rian Johnson Compares His Upcoming Sci-Fi Project to a ’70s Paranoid Thriller Unfortunately, Johnson also makes it clear that he’s not returning to Star Wars anytime soon. By Matthew Byrd | Published on October 21, 2025 Photo: TriStar Pictures Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: TriStar Pictures Speaking with Empire as part of the Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Story press tour, Rian Johnson briefly spoke about his highly anticipated, and incredibly mysterious, upcoming project. While Johnson wasn’t ready to share too many new details about the project (likely because it’s incredibly early in development), he did drop this tantalizing tidbit. “The most exciting thing right now is this idea I have in my head for the next thing I’m gonna make, and I think ultimately, that’s all you can do, is just kind of follow your nose,” says Johnson. “If I had to define it genre-wise, I’d say it harkens back to the ’70s paranoid thrillers. It’s got a light sci-fi element to it.” The ‘70s paranoid thrillers Johnson refers to include movies like 3 Days of the Condor, The Parallax View, The Conversation, and a variety of other generally incredible films that deal with individuals who find themselves caught in the middle of conspiracies. Though often associated with the ‘70s, it’s a concept that has been spiritually and directly revived over the years thanks to movies like Enemy of the State, Rebel Ridge, and even Captain American: The Winter Soldier. Given Johnson’s previous works and general interests, it’s easy enough imagining him contributing to that subgenre. The “light sci-fi elements” line is especially interesting. In a previous interview with Rolling Stone, Johnson said his next project is actually a revitalization of a sci-fi idea he had while working on Looper. “Right after I made Looper, I spent several years trying to crack this sci-fi idea that I had,” said Johnson. “Ultimately could not make it work. I never really got those gears I described to connect. So it just felt like a high concept that didn’t have any innards. But elements of that ended up working their way into the thing that I’m developing next. So, everything comes around,” For what it’s worth, it sounds like Johnson’s next project may have shed some of its headier ideas over the years but is still being referred to as at least some kind of sci-fi story. Naturally, any sci-fi stories Johnson works on should pique your interest given his immaculate additions to the genre thus far. If it happens to have elements of a paranoid thriller in it, so much the better. Unfortunately, Johnson also made it clear that he’s probably done with the Star Wars universe for the foreseeable future. “That cog will be turning the rest of my life. I love Star Wars,” said Johnson regarding the possibility of him returning to the franchise. “And if some day it makes sense to come back to it, for both of us, it would be the most wonderful thing in the world.” Tragic, though you really don’t want to belong to a club that won’t have Steven Soderbergh as a member. [end-mark] The post Rian Johnson Compares His Upcoming Sci-Fi Project to a ’70s Paranoid Thriller appeared first on Reactor.