Rian Johnson Says TV Is ‘Much More Fun’ to Make than Movies

The writer-director who recently scored with his latest Knives Out installment said he’s having a blast working on his new TV show for Peacock.

John Wilson/Netflix

Rian Johnson has been keeping busy working on content for screens of all sizes.

Glass Onion — the latest installment in his Knives Out murder mystery series — was praised by critics and audiences alike when it premiered on both the big screen and Netflix. Johnson has already unveiled plans for a third film of that particular feather. As comfortably as he may appear working on the various films in recent years bearing his namesake as a writer-director, the likes of which include Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Looper — Johnson says he’s never been happier than he’s been working on his first TV show as a creator.

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Poker Face is his latest project, a 10-episode detective series starring Natasha Lynne, which streams on Peacock beginning January 26 with a four-episode drop. Johnson has worked on TV before, including directing an episode of Breaking Bad (“Ozymandias” from Season 5), but this is his first time he’s helmed an original series while working collaboratively in a writer’s room. And he’s reveling in it.

“I honestly had a blast,” said Johnson in a recent press conference for NBC Universal’s Television Critics Association [via IndieWire].

Johnson added:

“Writing in terms of my own features where I just sit in a room and eat horribly and feel constantly stressed that I’m way behind on my deadline— this is much more fun being in a room with a group of people. It also never felt less-personal, I still felt like I was driving the stories and really shaping them… I really loved it.”

Johnson says that while he enjoys making films — including future entries into his multi-picture Knives Out contract with Netflix — he really enjoys the pace and collaborative spirit of working on a television series, which is a “a completely different process,” where a single one-hour episode comes together in about three weeks, compared to any one of his films which can hang in the balance for years.

“I loved that in each episode we’re in a different environment, it’s a whole new cast— it’s like making 10 mini movies. I literally dove into it like it was one of my movies. I really jumped completely into the deep end of the pool.”

Related: Poker Face’s Natasha Lyonne Says Like Her Character, She’s ‘An Excellent BS Detector’

Knives Out 3 Will Be Very Different Tonally and Thematically

Rian Johnson has previously teased the next installment in his Knives Out franchise, which will follow on the heels of 2022’s glass-smashing Netflix hit Glass Onion.

Speaking with Variety, he said:

“What was exciting about doing [Glass Onion] was the notion of trying to emulate Christie with a completely new story. I’m starting to work on the third movie now, and that’s also what’s got me creatively jazzed: I don’t have to replicate the last movie at all. The goal is to strike out in a completely new direction tonally and thematically.”

Knives Out 3 is currently in the early stages of production.

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