STAR WATCH

A News Hope

There has been a great disturbance

in the Force. The impregnable energy field that usually prevents any information leaking from Lucasfilm has been breached, as Vanity Fair’s in-depth feature divulges enough new

The Last Jedi intel to put an army of Bothan spies to shame.

we now know that Finn is in a healing Bacta suit in the recent trailer, and that he’ll be on a mission behind enemy lines with Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico; that the duo will visit a new location called Canto Bight, described by director Rian Johnson as, “a Monte Carlo-type environment. A playground basically for rich assholes”; that Laura Dean is playing a purple-haired Resistance officer called Vice-Admiral Amilyn Holdo; and Benicio del Toro’s “shifty” character is unnamed, yet known as DJ behind-the-scenes. “There’s a reason why,” teases Johnson. The director also reveals that he had

The Last Jedi in mind as a title before he started writing, and that, “I saw it as the job of this middle chapter to challenge all of the characters – let’s see what happens if we knock the stool out from under them.” It was enough to wrongfoot Mark Hamill, who initially told Johnson, “I pretty much fundamentally disagree with every choice you’ve made for [Luke].”

Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy also says discussions are ongoing over the future of the “saga” movies. “what exactly is the story we feel is important to tell beyond Episode IX? I think we have to answer that before we know whether we’re going to carry on.” whatever happens, the Rogue

One-style standalone stories will continue. “we haven’t identified [what’s next] yet,” says Kennedy. “we have a couple of things that we’re circling. It’s probably for 2020 and we will make a decision by June.”