Rian Johnson

Rian Craig Johnson (born December 17, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with the neo-noir mystery film Brick, which received positive reviews and grossed nearly $4 million on a $450,000 budget. Going on to make higher-profile films, Johnson achieved mainstream recognition for writing and directing the science-fiction thriller Looper (2012) to critical and commercial success. Johnson landed his largest project when he wrote and directed the space opera Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), which grossed over $1 billion. He returned to the mystery genre with the Knives Out film series (2019–present), which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Additionally, Johnson is known for directing three highly acclaimed episodes for the television series Breaking Bad (2008–2013), namely "Ozymandias", "Fly", and "Fifty-One"; for the last, he received the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series in 2013. He created the murder mystery series Poker Face for Peacock starring Natasha Lyonne. Johnson is known for his longstanding collaboration with actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who has appeared in all of his feature films to date in varying capacity. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.

Early life Johnson was born on December 17, 1973, in Silver Spring, Maryland. He grew up in Denver, Colorado, until sixth grade, when he moved to San Clemente, California. Johnson's second short film, Evil Demon Golfball from Hell!!!, loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", was included as an easter egg on the Looper Blu-ray.

Career Johnson has said he was inspired to become a film director after seeing Woody Allen's 1977 film Annie Hall. "It moved me in a way that very few other films have moved me. That's something that, I pray to God, if I am able to keep making movies, I can only hope, twenty years down the line maybe, I'll be able to approach."

Early films and Breaking Bad Johnson's debut feature film, Brick, is a crime drama released in 2005 and made for just under $500,000. Johnson has said he looked to Dashiell Hammett's novels as inspiration for the film's unique use of language. While the film is classified as a film noir, Johnson claims that no references were made to film noir during production, so as to focus the production away from reproducing a genre piece. Brick was released on DVD by Focus Features.

Johnson directed the video for the Mountain Goats' song "Woke Up New" in 2006. He is a professed fan of the band and was asked to direct the video when bandleader John Darnielle noticed a reference to them in the credits for Brick. A song is credited to "The Hospital Bombers Experience", which is a reference to the Mountain Goats song titled "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton". Johnson also directed a live performance film of the Mountain Goats' 2009 album The Life of the World to Come. The film consists of a single shot, depicting Darnielle performing the entire album on guitar and piano with minimal accompaniment. This film was screened in New York City, Chicago, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon upon its completion, and was released as a limited edition DVD on Record Store Day (April 17, 2010).

Johnson's second feature film, The Brothers Bloom, is a con-man story released in theaters in May 2009 to moderately positive critical reviews. On Metacritic, the film was assigned a weighted average score of 55 out of 100 based on 26 reviews from mainstream critics.

In March 2010, Johnson announced that he was directing an episode of the TV series Breaking Bad for its third season. The episode, "Fly", aired on May 23, 2010. Johnson directed a second episode of the show, "Fifty-One", which aired on August 5, 2012, and earned him a Directors Guild of America Award. He directed a third episode, "Ozymandias", which received high praise from critics, frequently cited as being 'one of the best television episodes' to air.

Johnson has made a number of short films, some of which are available on his website. His short film from high school, Ninja Ko, is available as an easter egg on the Brick DVD. After working with Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Brick, the two shot a short film in Paris titled Escargots. In 2002, he directed a short film, The Psychology of Dream Analysis, which is available to view on his Vimeo account. Johnson directed the episode "Manifest Destiny" of the TV series Terriers.

Johnson's third feature film, Looper, began shooting in Louisiana on January 24, 2011, and was released on September 28, 2012, by TriStar Pictures and FilmDistrict. Set in the near future, it has been described as dark science fiction, and involves hitmen whose victims are sent from the future. The film opened the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2012 Palo Alto International Film Festival. Looper was a surprise success at the box office.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi On June 20, 2014, news broke that Johnson would write and direct the eighth installment in the Star Wars film series. Johnson confirmed the report that following month. The film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, was released on December 15, 2017, to positive reviews from critics and audiences. While multiple sources reported that Johnson turned down an offer from Lucasfilm to write and direct the film's follow-up, the then-untitled Episode IX, Johnson denied that he was ever in discussion for, or turned down, the role.

On November 9, 2017, it was announced that Johnson would write a new trilogy of Star Wars films, separate from the main story arc of previous films in the franchise, and would direct the first installment of his trilogy. By 2025, Johnson's plans for a Star Wars trilogy had not materialized and the project never got past the conceptual stage. But he did not rule out working with Lucasfilm in the future.

Knives Out and Poker Face Following The Last Jedi, Johnson directed the murder mystery feature film Knives Out, starring Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas and Christopher Plummer. He penned the script and co-produced with longtime producing partner Ram Bergman. grossing over $300 million at the box office worldwide. It earned Johnson his first Academy Award nomination, for Best Original Screenplay.

In September 2019, Johnson and producer Ram Bergman launched T-Street, a company that will generate original content for film and TV shows. The venture is fully capitalized by global media company Valence Media. In March 2021, it was announced that Johnson was writing/directing a ten-episode mystery drama television series for Peacock titled Poker Face, starring Natasha Lyonne, which premiered on the service on January 26, 2023. A second season premiered in May 2025.

Due to the success of Knives Out, Lionsgate announced that a sequel was officially approved in February 2020, with Johnson set to return to write and direct the film. Filming on the first Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion, began on June 28, 2021. After premiering at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, the film received a one-week theatrical release across the United States and in other international markets from November 23 to 29, 2022, before streaming on Netflix beginning on December 23. A third film in the series, Wake Up Dead Man, was released on Netflix in November 2025.

In March 2024, Johnson signed a deal with Warner Bros. to produce two films under his studio T-Street.

Personal life Johnson is a folk singer and banjo player. His brother is music producer Aaron Johnson. His cousin Nathan Johnson composed the scores for Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper, Knives Out, Glass Onion, and Wake Up Dead Man. Rian and Nathan make up a folk duo called the Preserves.

Johnson has been married to film writer, historian, and podcaster Karina Longworth since 2018. They met when she was working as a film critic.

His paternal grandfather is a Swedish immigrant who is in the homebuilding business.

Filmography Feature film

Year Title Director Writer Producer 2005 Brick 2008 The Brothers Bloom 2012 Looper 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi 2019 Knives Out 2022 Glass Onion 2025 Wake Up Dead Man

Producer only 2034 (TBA)

Executive producer Fair Play (2023) American Fiction (2023)

Short film Year Title Director Writer Producer Editor 1990 Ninja Ko, the Origami Master 1997 Evil Demon Golfball from Hell!!! 2001 Ben Boyer and the Phenomenology of Automobile Marketing 2002 The Psychology of Dream Analysis

Television

Other works Documentary films The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come (2010)

Music videos Year Title Artist 2008 "Woke Up New" The Mountain Goats 2018 "Oh Baby" LCD Soundsystem

Commercials