Movies

The last few years have been very exciting for Star Wars fans. Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, there’s been a bunch of new and exciting content on both the silver and small screen. The most recent installment of the main franchise came with Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which purposefully subverted fan expectations and challenged what we thought about Luke, Leia, and the rest of the galaxy.

Despite some backlash for The Last Jedi, Lucasfilm seemed pleased with Rian Johson’s work, so much that he was given his own Star Wars trilogy to develop. A recent rumor claimed that Johnson was stepping away from those trio of movies, but now the director has shut them down. When asked on Twitter, he posted:

Well, that’s pretty cut and dry. Star Wars rumors may continue swirling, but it seems that the Last Jedi director is still committed to his own three-movie arc. As for those rumors, it seems there’s no validity to them.

Rian Johnson’s recent tweet will likely elicit a mixture of emotions from the generations of Star Wars fans out there. On one hand, his confirmation of the upcoming trilogy may be a relief. It shows that Lucasfilm has a clear plan for the future of the franchise after Episode IX, which will is set to end the Skywalker Saga forever. It’s currently unclear if/when standalone movies like Solo or Rogue One will be brought back into the property, but at least there’s a trio of new movies by Rian Johnson, as well as another possible trilogy developed by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. So fear not, the galaxy far, far away is only going to continue to grow.

On the other side, there may be some Star Wars fans who were hoping the reports of Rian Johnson dropping his trilogy were true. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is arguably the most divisive main installment of the franchise, and a ton of hate was thrown at Johnson for his direction, as well as actress Kelly Marie Tran, who played Rose Tico Fans took umbrage with the way he changed characters, the entire Canto Bight sequence, and especially Luke’s fate. Those naysayers might have been happy to know that Johnson dropped out of his three movie series. Alas, that was just a rumor.

It should be fascinating to see exactly what Rian Johnson will bring to the Star Wars franchise with his developing trilogy. In particular, where in the timeline of the franchise they’ll be set. Will they be prequels, sequels, or maybe even movies set within George Lucas’ original trilogy? It’s anyone’s guess at this point, but his work in The Last Jedi proved that he’s willing to take risks and make liberal changes to the canon.

Moviegoers will be able to catch up with their favorite Star Wars characters when J.J. Abrams’ Episode IX arrives in theaters on December 20th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Just in time for the recent 30th anniversary of the execution of Ted Bundy, one of the most notorious serial killers in American history, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding his life and story. Netflix recently dropped the chilling docu-series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. Then, last week the streaming service picked up the crime drama Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile starring Zac Efron as Bundy. Both projects are helmed by true-crime filmmaker Joe Berlinger. Coincidence? Berlinger says yes. Here’s how he put it:

Speaking of shocking! Considering the filmmaker has a hand in both Ted Bundy films, one would imagine he planned to have them in conversation at the same time. However, per an interview with Deadline, Joe Berlinger said it just kind of happened that way.

He never intended to work on both Ted Bundy movies at once. The exclusive recordings featured in the Netflix docu-series landed on his desk in February 2017 and the script for Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, penned by Michael Werwie “fell into his lap” in April. Berlinger explained the difference between the project with the following:

So while the recent Netflix docu-series release features real interviews with the serial killer while he was on death row, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is a dramatic narrative that centers on his longtime girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer (played by Lily Collins) as she learns over the years of his criminal activity. Kloepfer ignored the signs of the infamously handsome serial killer’s wrongdoings before playing a part in his arrest.

It’s also interesting that both projects will find a home on Netflix, but this likeness doesn’t seem to be purposeful either. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January as one of the most talked about new movies that were featured. Of course, the streaming giant had to nab the rights to the movie for $9 million, though it certainly helps for it to own both as a set.

A release date for Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile hasn’t yet been set, but it likely won’t start streaming until the 2019 awards season. Since the streaming service sees awards potential in the project, the studio will also reportedly opt for a theatrical run as Roma had.