The Director and the Jedi

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Please let me introduce our producers and our mentor,

Rian Johnson, Kathy Kennedy and Ram Bergman.

I'm gonna take a very short amount of time

to just say that I've been making movies

for a long, long time.

And I don't think, seriously,

I have ever had an experience

like I've had with this guy and this guy.

They are the best.

And you guys know that...

You know that you are very, very lucky

to have been led by this team.

So, I'm going to let them speak to that.

So, I don't want to freak anyone out, but...

I don't want to freak anybody out here,

but I think we just made a Star Wars movie.

Do you have a new project?

Yeah. You know, I'm doing a Star Wars movie.

- I'm doing the next Star Wars movie.

- Wow!

Yeah. ItsYeah, it's crazy.

Right as we were finishing

AMC Movie Talk on Friday,

the news broke about Rian Johnson.

Actually, you and I talked on the phone.

I was in my car, losing it,

"Did you see this, Rian Johnson, what?"

I love what he tweeted when the news broke,

which was that clip from The Right Stuff.

Dear Lord, please don't let me f*** up.

It was a surprising decision, like,

I think people...

'Cause he's not really a recognized name.

Yeah, I think Rian Johnson,

it's a really bold choice.

How is Rian Johnson's style

going to change Episode Vlll?

All I know is that I'm super excited

for Star Episode Vlll.

And super excited to watch

Star The Force Awakens again.

The Force is certainly with

the new Star Wars movie,

smashing box office records

in its opening weekend.

- It was really amazing.

- It was really a roller-coaster.

It was fantastic.

Okay, everybody, I gotta get to Star Wars.

I think Rian Johnson is an incredibly talented individual,

and I hope that within the Star Wars world,

he will give us something that is new,

and interesting, and exciting,

and he will still make something that

feels like it's gonna fit in that world.

Yep.

What does it feel like when you

take over somebody else's world?

Well, it's, you know...

I mean, honestly, it's the most fun

I've ever had writing. It's justjoyous.

But I don't know.

- Ask me again in a few years.

- Yeah.

And that word, "conflict,"

that word is straight from Luke's,

when he confronted Vader.

"I feel a conflict in you."

And, so, that's kind of the key to,

well, making him understand.

"I looked into his eyes and I saw conflict.

"I saw he could be turned.

"And if he were turned from the dark side,

"that could shift the tide

and save the Resistance.

"This could be how we win."

"This is not going to go

the way you think."

"It is, because there's more."

I wonder if we can even ease off

on the intensity of it,

and make it more...

DAISY RI Entreating.

Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

The truth is I always put myself

in the shoes of..

If I wasn't involved in this movie,

if I was just, you know, just me, just a fan,

the only thing I would really want is a good movie

that delights me in ways I didn't expect.

You know what actually would be nice maybe?

You listen to me now. Instead of

holding it on him as a threat,

you bring it in.

"Listen, listen."

- And then that can be a more intimate...

- Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The spotlight now is definitely on us, on Rian,

on making this movie...

Listen to me!

which I think is great...

You listen to me now!

... as long as everybody's in sync

on what that movie needs to be.

And that's always the hard part.

The caliber of people that we've got, it's pretty amazing.

Every single person is the best

at what they do here.

I'm the newbie.

All these other department heads

have done movies of this size.

I imagined that Ram and I would be outsiders,

that we would be somehow infiltrating

this world that we don't belong in.

I feel like it looks too much like a droid.

Too complicated, too robot-y, too Doctor Who.

I feel like they gotta be, you know...

They gotta be classier. Yeah.

You have to lay down all your chips on it,

in front of a lot of

really good poker players,

and say, "This is the right decision, "

based on nothing but this little tingle

you get in your stomach.

And, you know, that's scary.

That's really terrifying.

Rian delivered a great script,

very ambitious, with a lot of surprises.

And people realize that

he has a complete vision

of the film he wants to do.

I've known Rian since we were teenagers.

I was over the moon.

I couldn't believe that it was something

this amazing and meaningful to me.

And that it was still a Rian movie.

It wasn't a hired gun

because he was gonna write it

and Ram was going to produce it.

- I, sorry.

- That's okay.

I have all of the poster art

if you want to see it at some point.

You don't need to see it right this second.

But it's easy for me to pull up on PIX.

Oh.

Once we decided that we were making Star Wars movies,

he was one of the people that

I was immediately interested in.

I just think that his storytelling ability,

and who he is, as a human being,

just exemplified a lot of the values

and the sense of fun.

I get excited when it feels like

it's something new and unique.

I just have one goal,

which is to make the most powerful

Star Wars movie I possibly can.

The best shot at making something good

is to come into it and trust my guts, you know.

What's up, Leo?

I know.

He's getting pretty big now.

- Up and coming.

- Yeah.

He would love to talk with you tonight.

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