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Rian Johnson

Directing

Born December 17, 1973 · Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

Also known as Rian Craig Johnson

Biography

Rian Craig Johnson (born December 17, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with the neo-noir mystery film Brick (2005), which received positive reviews and grossed nearly $4 million on a $450,000 budget. Transitioning to 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 Knives Out (2019) and its sequel Glass Onion (2022), both of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, respectively. Additionally, Johnson is also known for directing three highly acclaimed episodes for the television series Breaking Bad (2008–2013), namely "Ozymandias," "Fly," and "Fifty-One"; for the latter, he received the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing—Drama Series in 2013. He also created a murder mystery series titled Poker Face for Peacock with Natasha Lyonne. Johnson was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rian Johnson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & recognition

  • Time 100 · 2023
  • Directors Guild of America Award
  • Academy AwardBest Writing, Adapted Screenplay · 2023 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Writing, Original Screenplay · 2020 · nominated

Filmography39 titles

Breaking Bad

2008Director

BoJack Horseman

2014as Brian (voice)

Terriers

2010Director

Knives Out

2019Director, Producer, Writer

Frankenstein

2025Thanks

tick, tick... BOOM!

2021Thanks

3 Body Problem

2024Executive Producer

Poker Face

2023Director, Executive Producer, Writer

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

2016as Imperial Technician (uncredited)

Baby Driver

2017Thanks

American Fiction

2023Executive Producer

Last Night in Soho

2021Thanks

Wake Up Dead Man

2025Director, Producer, Writer

Glass Onion

2022Director, Producer, Writer

The Real History of Science Fiction

as Self

Looper

2012Director, Writer

Metal Lords

2022Thanks

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi

2017Director, Writer

The World's End

2013Thanks

Brick

2005Director, Editor, Writer

Scream

2022as Party Guest (voice) (uncredited)

The Brothers Bloom

2008Director, Writer

May

2002Editor

The Invitation

2015Thanks

Fair Play

2023Executive Producer

The Hollars

2016Thanks

Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre

2023as Self

The Woman

2011Songs

Destroyer

2018Thanks

Tales of Halloween

2015Thanks

Out of Print

2014as Self

Scare Package

2019Thanks

The English Teacher

2013Thanks

Late Night with Seth Meyers

2014as Self

Capone

2020Thanks

Welcome to the Jungle

2013Thanks

Blood Relatives

2022Thanks

Brawler

2011Thanks

Spike

2008Thanks