Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) Non-Spoilers! (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Interesting that "Skywalkers" is plural on that German poster.

Rolling Stone has an interview with J.J. Abrams about the making of The Rise of Skywalker.

A few interesting quotes:

• On whether the choices made by Rian Johnson in The Last Jedi affected his plans for how the trilogy would end; "I had a real sense with Larry Kasdan about where things would go, potentially. And I think that, when I read Rian’s script, what I felt was that with everything that happens in that movie, and quite a lot does, nothing sort of obviated a sense of inevitability where I thought the story could go."
• On how his "mystery box" philosophy of filmmaking applies to this movie: "It’s not a driving force at all. I’m not actively thinking, 'How do I employ mystery-box strategy to this story?' ... It’s not to say I still don’t feel like a good story forces you to ask a question. But an ending needs to be, by definition, conclusive. I keep imagining a kid watching these nine movies a hundred years from now, so there needs to be a sense of inevitability and continuity to it."
  
• On why Rey got powerful with the Force much faster than the other Jedi and Sith we've seen: "Yeah, spooky, right? [Smiles] It’s a fair point. It’s not an accident."

 

[Josh Dial]

Interesting that "Skywalkers" is plural on that German poster.

Here's my prediction way back in the thread:

Here are my two predictions:

1. Rey, having no last name (because her parents abandoned her), adopts the name "Skywalker" OR
2. Rey starts a new order--something "in between" the Jedi and the Sith--and calls it the "Skywalkers".

 

[dpippel]

Something about Finn's expression here makes me lol.

Kinda like...

 

[SamT]

Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy on ‘Rise of Skywalker’ and the Future of ‘Star Wars’

In a digital exclusive from our upcoming ‘Star Wars’ cover package, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy discusses the challenges of moving the franchise forward, George Lucas’ criticism, and much more

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy may well be the most powerful woman in Hollywood, and she’s hardly a newcomer to the world of blockbusters, serving as Steven Spielberg’s producer since 1982’s E.T. That partnership extended to Spielberg’s collaborations on the Indiana Jones movies with George Lucas, who anointed Kennedy as his successor in 2012 as he negotiated a sale to Disney. As guardian of the Star Wars universe, Kennedy has needed every ounce of her experience, never hesitating to swap out creative teams, even mid-movie when necessary, as on 2018’s commercial disappointment Solo. In October, two weeks before Game of Thrones’ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss pulled out of a year-old deal to develop a new Star Wars trilogy, Kennedy called Rolling Stone to discuss December 20th’s Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, and a post-Skywalker-saga cinematic future for the franchise that remains wide open, even as Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and Marvel’s Kevin Feige develop potential films.

Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow was slated to write and direct Episode IX before you brought J.J. Abrams back in. Is this final entry in the trilogy a particularly hard nut to crack?

...

 

[SamT]

Colin Trevorrow On His Rise Of Skywalker Writing Credit And His Last Jedi Contribution

• Another Star Wars filmmaker, Rian Johnson, incorporated one of Trevorrow's suggestions into his own movie, The Last Jedi, working from a concept that the Jurassic World director had looked to include himself. "I just asked Rian if he could include a little moment where Rey...
• Abrams, who took over co-writing and shooting the movie, went in some significantly different directions, including a return for a classic character. "Bringing back the Emperor was an idea JJ brought to the table when he came on board," Trevorrow says. "It’s honestly something I never considered. I commend him for it. This was a tough story to unlock, and he found the key."

 

[TravisR]

Colin Trevorrow On His Rise Of Skywalker Writing Credit And His Last Jedi Contribution

• Another Star Wars filmmaker, Rian Johnson, incorporated one of Trevorrow's suggestions into his own movie, The Last Jedi, working from a concept that the Jurassic World director had looked to include himself. "I just asked Rian if he could include a little moment where Rey...

So he's the one responsible for the continuity error of Rey and Poe having their "first" meeting in The Last Jedi but they already met in The Force Awakens novel! Forget his Episode IX script, his ass should have been fired for screwing that up.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

So he's the one responsible for the continuity error of Rey and Poe having their "first" meeting in The Last Jedi but they already met in The Force Awakens novel! Forget his Episode IX script, his ass should have been fired for screwing that up.

The novelizations are ancillary. I would have been bummed not to see their first meeting on screen. Lucasfilm should never have allowed such an important moment to be in the novelization only.

 

[TravisR]

The novelizations are ancillary. I would have been bummed not to see their first meeting on screen. Lucasfilm should never have allowed such an important moment to be in the novelization only.

Absolutely. I assume that when writing TFA novel, Alan Dean Foster or LFL felt like a good new scene would be to have Rey and Poe meet (and they were right) but when they had the opportunity to realize it onscreen, they went for it continuity be damned (and they were right again).

 

[SamT]

they already met in The Force Awakens novel!

When do they meet in the novelization?

I thought this could be a foreshadowing that there is a romance in the air. I personally never bought all the Rey Kylo stuff.

 

[TravisR]

When do they meet in the novelization?

They meet near the end of the book at the Resistance base on D'Qar before Rey sets off to find Luke. For all I know, it might have been a scene that was shot and deleted as it seems odd to not have all the main characters meet during the movie.

 

[SamT]

Do they say in The Last Jedi that it's the first time they meet? Maybe it's not the first time.

 

[SamT]

Empire’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Covers

 

[AshJW]

Interesting that "Skywalkers" is plural on that German poster.

No, that’s not plural. It‘s genitive.
In long term the title says: „ Der Aufstieg des Skywalkers“, which means “of the Skywalker”.

German language isn’t easy. Even Mark Twain complained about it.

 

[benbess]

I'm still processing what Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed a few months ago in his memoirs:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...ucas-felt-betrayed-by-star-wars-plans-1242953

"In the book, Iger explains that Disney purchased Lucas' outlines for three new movies when it made a deal to acquire Lucasfilm in 2012 — although that purchase was, in part, made out of a sense of obligation, it's suggested; "[W]e decided we needed to buy them," the chief exec writes of the decision made with studio head Alan Horn, "though we made clear in the purchase agreement that we would not be contractually obligated to adhere to the plot lines he'd laid out."

As it turned out, Disney and Lucasfilm didn't follow Lucas' lead for the new movies, a decision Lucas discovered when Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and Star Wars: The Force Awakens writers J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt met to discuss the new trilogy, and specifically the 2015 installment.

"George immediately got upset as they began to describe the plot and it dawned on him that we weren't using one of the stories he submitted during the negotiations," Iger writes. "George knew we weren't contractually bound to anything, but he thought that our buying the story treatments was a tacit promise that we'd follow them, and he was disappointed that his story was being discarded. I'd been so careful since our first conversation not to mislead him in any way, and I didn't think I had now, but I could have handled it better."

Added the CEO: "George felt betrayed, and while this whole process would never have been easy for him, we'd gotten off to an unnecessarily rocky start."

Things didn't improve when Lucas saw the finished movie. Following a private screening, Iger recalls, Lucas "didn't hide his disappointment. 'There's nothing new,' he said. In each of the films in the original trilogy, it was important to him to present new worlds, new stories, new characters, and new technologies. In this one, he said, 'There weren't enough visual or technical leaps forward.' He wasn't wrong...."

So Iger, Kennedy, and J.J. Abrams all decided to mostly ignore the outlines Lucas created for movies 7 through 9.

But why? That's an important question for me. *Why* did they seemingly feel mostly free to ignore Lucas and his ideas for something that he'd created from 1972 until 2012, when he sold his company to Disney? That's 40 years of deep experience with this. It would be like ignoring what George R.R. Martin had to say about where to go with Game of Thrones.

???!

My only guess at this point is that all three of these people—Iger, Kennedy, Abrams, and others—felt a couple of things: 1. They were aware of (and put too much weight on) the seeming hate that a small but vocal minority of fans had for Lucas and the prequel trilogy, and 2. They wanted to have creative freedom, and also thought they could do better than George Lucas.

Hmmm.

I guess we'll see how this worked out on December 19th.

 

[benbess]

I want to add that overall I've mostly really liked what has gone on with Star Wars since 2012.

Although I agree with the issues that Lucas himself had with The Force Awakens, in retrospect I like how the movie introduced new characters, like Rey, that I do like and care about. When I first saw it, I'd say it was about a "B" for me, but after rewatching it a few times in the last few years I now feel it's an A-.

And Rogue One, aside from some iffy CGI for Leia and Tarkin, is a really strong Star Wars movie that explains something important in an interesting and sometimes moving way, earning it an "A" for me.

The Last Jedi, amazingly enough, is right now my favorite Star Wars movie of all time, earning right now an "A+" from me. However, just as my rating for TFA was adjusted after seeing the next movie, my rating for this one might adjust after seeing The Rise of Skywalker.

Solo worked for me better than it did for most people, but there are cringe-worthy moments, as well as a general sense of "did they really need to make this movie." Still, at the moment I'll rate it a "B"

And like almost everyone it seems, I'm really liking The Mandalorian so far, which is the crown jewel show for Disney+

And so overall, I do feel like it's been a great era for Star Wars in the last five years, but a significant amount does depend on how the Skywalker series ends. As we all keep saying and thinking, Dec. 19 will be quite a reveal. I hope it works out.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

No, that’s not plural. It‘s genitive.
In long term the title says: „ Der Aufstieg des Skywalkers“, which means “of the Skywalker”.

German language isn’t easy. Even Mark Twain complained about it.

I really appreciate the clarification of my misinterpretation. This is why I'm glad to have HTFers from all around the world!

 

[Jason_V]

Things didn't improve when Lucas saw the finished movie. Following a private screening, Iger recalls, Lucas "didn't hide his disappointment. 'There's nothing new,' he said. In each of the films in the original trilogy, it was important to him to present new worlds, new stories,
new characters, and new technologies. In this one, he said, 'There weren't enough visual or technical leaps forward.' He wasn't wrong...."

Well, at I agree with George on that part and I said it on opening night of Force Awakens: this is a straight rehash of A New Hope. The names got changed and some new characters introduced, but that's it. I've made peace with that movie in the years since. Hell, I was vocally disappointed in Force Awakens on opening night.

I won't agree Disney was obligated to use his outlines just because they bought them. That's not how the world works unless it was in the contract they would use them.

 

[Edwin-S]

Lucas sells his "baby" to the Beast and then gets upset because they don't use his story treatments. For real? He betrayed his creation as soon as he sold it to Disney. Why he should feel betrayed by a monolithic corporation whose only concern is making money just makes me laugh. He should have realized that he had given up control as soon as he cashed the cheque that said Disney on it.

 

[SamT]

 

[SamT]

Wait a minute. People can breath in space, in Star Wars?