Rian Johnson

Rian Johnson (born December 17, 1973, Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.) is an American film director and writer who is known for creating well-crafted, tightly plotted thrillers that subvert expectations.

Johnson’s family moved from Maryland to the Denver, Colorado, area when he was a toddler. They moved again when he was about 11 years old to San Clemente, California, where he acquired a Super-8 camera and began making short movies with his friends. After his 1992 high-school graduation, Johnson attended the University of Southern California, eventually gaining admission to the university’s School of Cinema-Television (now School of Cinematic Arts), from which he earned a degree in 1996. While there he created the short comedy horror movie Evil Demon Golf Ball from Hell!!! (1997).

Johnson spent the next few years making instructional videos and promotions for children’s TV shows, and he edited the well-received horror film May (2002). In the meantime he gathered financing to make his first feature film. That movie, Brick (2005), which he wrote, directed, and edited, was a classic film noir in style but was set in a Southern California high school. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a high-school student investigating the death of his former girlfriend, it won generally positive reviews. Johnson next wrote and directed The Brothers Bloom (2008), a more-mainstream caper movie and romantic comedy that starred Mark Ruffalo, Adrien Brody, and Rachel Weisz.

After that, Johnson directed a live-album performance movie for the Mountain Goats (2010). He also helmed three episodes of the acclaimed TV series Breaking Bad (2010, 2012, and 2013), the last of which (“Ozymandias”) received particularly high praise. Johnson’s third movie was the sci-fi thriller Looper (2012). The futuristic drama featured Gordon-Levitt as a hit man for a criminal organization that exploits time travel to commit murder undiscovered, and it earned critical plaudits and a large popular audience.

Johnson was then tapped to write and direct the second installment of the third Star Wars trilogy. His take on the iconic franchise in Star Wars: Episode VIII—The Last Jedi (2017) won over critics and audiences, but Johnson’s penchant for subverting expectations also caused a vocal backlash among many fans. His next movie, however, was an unalloyed triumph. Knives Out (2019), a classic murder mystery leavened with sly social commentary, featured an all-star cast that included Christopher Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Daniel Craig. In additional to critical praise, the movie earned Johnson an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay.