No./2 notes on a controversy
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker has stormed to a billion-dollar box office — but it’s not been an easy ride to get there. We track the unfolding drama behind the Skywalker saga’s final chapter
TREVORROW EXITS (5 September 2017)
Episode IX’S original director leaves the film. “Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways,” says the press release. A week later, The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams is announced as his replacemnent.
PALPATINE RETURNS (12 april 2019)
At the biannual Star Wars Celebration, the surprise return of Ian Mcdiarmid as Emperor Palpatine is revealed.
TREVORROW EARNS a CREDIT (22 november 2019)
Trevorrow still gets a “story by” credit, but tells Empire that including Palpatine in the film is “honestly something I never considered”.
REVIEWS HIT (18 december 2019)
The reviews embargo lifts two days before the release. The film’s score on Rotten Tomatoes ultimately settles on 53 per cent, one of the few Star Wars films to earn a ‘Rotten’ rating.
THE EDITOR SPEAKS (23 december 2019)
Speaking on The Rough Cut podcast, the film’s editor, Maryann Brandon, notes that Rise’s production schedule was three months shorter than The Force Awakens’. “It was a struggle. It affected everything. About a third of the way through, Kathy [Kennedy] was like, ‘J.J. has got to spend more time in the cutting room.’ And
I knew that just wasn’t going to happen. Not with the schedule that we were on.” Much of the editing was then completed in a tent on set.
OSCAR Isaac On #FINNPOE (23 december 2019)
Oscar Isaac shows support for ‘Finnpoe’ shippers. “These two men in war… could’ve fallen in love with each other,” he tells IGN. “The Disney overlords were not ready to do that.”
Rian JOHNSON HASHTAG (24 december 2019)
In tribute to The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, the hashtag #Thankyourianjohnson trends worldwide on Twitter.
Rian JOHNSON RESPONDS (24 december 2019)
In response to the hashtag, Rian Johnson tweets to the fans: “Endlessly awed by your passion, creativity, anger, joy, positivity, excitement, engagement and love. You continuously defy every cynical narrative. You’re the best.”
CHRIS TERRIO SPEAKS (30 december 2019)
The film’s co-screenwriter, Chris Terrio, attempts to explain the reduced role of Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, attributing it to technical issues around footage of the late Carrie Fisher. “A few scenes we’d written with Rose and Leia turned out to not meet the standard of photorealism that we’d hoped for,” he tells Awardsdaily.
CHRIS TERRIO CLARIFIES (30 DECEMBER 2019)
In a statement to Vulture, Terrio clarifies that he isn’t actually blaming inadequate effects, explaining those scenes were lost at the script stage. “I badly misspoke… ILM would have made it look perfect. They always do.”
JOHN BOYEGA TWEETS (31 DECEMBER 2019)
In response to ‘Reylo’ shippers hoping for a Kylo/rey romance, John Boyega tweets four pictures of Rey and Kylo fighting, with the ironic caption “Star Wars romance”.
EISNER WEIGHS IN (31 DECEMBER 2019)
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner calls Rise “an acceptable film, a lot of story and fan delights but somewhat emotionless”.
REDDIT THEORIES (2 JANUARY 2020)
Unverified conspiracy theories appear on Reddit about an unseen director’s cut.
#RELEASETHEJJCUT (3 JANUARY 2020)
Following the Reddit thread, the hashtag #Releasethejjcut begins trending on Twitter.
DOMINIC MONAGHAN SPEAKS (3 JANUARY 2020)
Dominic Monaghan, who plays Beaumont Kin, tells The Hollywood Reporter: “Like a lot of Star Wars fans, I’m hoping there will be a director’s cut so we’ll get to see more and more of the stuff that was filmed. Even in the short time that I was there, there was so much stuff filmed that didn’t make it to the theatrical version.”