Rian Johnson Talks Luke and Rey in ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’

With Rogue One: A Star Wars Story now in its fourth week in theaters, it’s already time to start shifting our attention to the next chapter in the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars: Episode VIII, due out next Holiday season.

The Force Awakens was rather cryptic with its explanation of Luke Skywalkers self-imposed exile but the sequel’s director Rian Johnson offered up a few interesting tidbits telling USA Today “a large part of the of the movie” will be spent addressing why Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamil) is on Ahch-To —  the planet believed to be home to the first Jedi temple — and what he’s going to do next.

The film will also focus on how Luke and Rey (Daisy Ridley) relate to one another. Johnson added:

“Part of what’s she’s dealing with is the realization that she has this power and this gift. She’s taking her first step to coming to terms with this thing inside her that she never knew was there and is just starting to reveal its potential.”

The last we saw Rey she was holding out Luke’s father’s lightsaber as her plea for him to return to the galaxy with her to restore balance to the force shifted into a demand. Rather than jump ahead a few years, Johnson reassured fans Episode VIII will break Star Wars tradition and pick up right where The Force Awakens left off:

“I don’t want to skip ahead two years. I want to see the very next moment of what happens.”

With Episode VIII already in the can, including Carrie Fisher’s scenes, Lucasfilm has begun to look to the future in order to develop a plan to rework the story for Episode IX due to the untimely death of the franchise’s beloved Princess.

Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow will meet this week with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy to weigh out the options of how to alter the storyline in a way that not only serves the franchise best but also honors the memory of Carrie Fisher.

Insiders told THR that at least two major scenes from the upcoming films will be affected including (spoiler warning) a reunion between Princess Leia and her brother, Luke Skywalker, and a confrontation between Leia and her son, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), over the murder of his father, Leia’s husband, Han Solo (Harrison Ford).

Star Wars: Episode VIII hits theaters December 15, 2017.

The film stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Benicio del Toro, Laura Dern, Kelly Marie Tran, and Andy Serkis. Written and directed by Rian Johnson.

SOURCE: USA TODAY

Daisy Ridley Says The Answer To Reys Parents is in ‘The Force Awakens’

“Whomever you’re waiting for on Jakku, they’re never coming back.” – Maz Kanata

When The Force Awakens cut to the end credits, the parentage of the franchise’s new lead heroine, Rey (Daisy Ridley), remained a mystery. The film was littered with clues that suggested Rey could either be the daughter or Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) or that her parents are characters we have yet to be introduced to.

While promoting the new documentary The Eagle Huntress, for which she serves as Executive producer, Ridley told Time Out London that she was caught by surprise at audiences reactions and their lack of understanding of her character’s origin:

“I thought a lot was answered in ‘The Force Awakens’. Then after the screening I went for a drink with my agent and everyone, and we were chatting away and I realized that oh, in their minds it’s not answered at all!”

Luke Skywalker has always been my favorite Star Wars character. Sure Han Solo is great but I never wanted to be Han. I wanted to be Luke. It wasn’t until Rey came along did the franchise have another character that came close to being as incredible as Luke for me. That being said, I will be pretty disappointed if she turns out not to be his daughter because I think if there has ever been a character worthy of the Skywalker name, it’s Rey.

Unfortunately, based on the clues in The Force Awakens and what we already know about the force, I don’t think Rey is Lukes daughter. Like Anakin, I think Rey is a vergence in the force. A vergence or nexus point was a phenomenon of the force that was centered on a place or around an object, and in some rare cases a person.

“I have encountered a vergence in the Force.”
“Located around a person?”

―Qui-Gon Jinn and Mace Windu on the discovery of Anakin Skywalker.

When the force is out of balance, the force itself will create a vergence to restore the balance between the light and the dark. With the dark side rising in Snoke and Kylo Ren — and Luke in exile on Ahch-To, it’s possible that Rey was created with the purpose of finding Luke and restoring balance to the force in the galaxy with him.

We’ll find out next Christmas when Star Wars Episode VIII hits theaters on December 15, 2017.

SOURCE: TIME OUT

Felicity Jones Talks Playing Jyn Erso

Star Wars isn’t just for boys anymore. Last Christmas, The Force Awakens introduced us to one of the greatest female heroines in history in the form of Daisy Ridley as Rey, who begins as an orphaned scavenger trying to get by on the junkyard of a planet known as Jakku as she embarks on her heroes journey which resulted in the discovery of the self-exiled hero of the galaxy, Luke Skywalker.

Continuing that trend this holiday, Lucasfilm will introduce us to another heroic female lead with Felicity Jones as the rebel soldier Jyn Erso who will lead the rebellion on their mission to steal the plans to the first Death Star which allowed Luke to destroy the superweapon in the original classic A New Hope.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the oscar nominated actress discussed the empowering experience she hopes for girls to have when the experience Rogue One.

I just hope that girls like the movie and can invest in Jyn’s story and care about her. It is quite nice now that instead of a fish’s tail, girls can see a cool female character who’s got a blaster and can run really fast.

Jones also commented on how much she enjoyed the physicality required for playing the role of Jyn Erso.

I loved it because I got to kick some ass. I loved the physical side of making these larger films. I worked closely with the stunt teams and got to learn a new skill. I mean, you do go home covered in bruises, but it’s worth it.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters December 16, 2016.

SOURCE: VANITY FAIR

Why Obi-Wan Kenobi Can’t Be Rey’s Father

Continuing on her press tour promoting the new documentary The Eagle Huntress for which she serves as executive producer, actress Daisy Ridley offered a clue as to when we might get to learn the parentage of her character Rey, who was introduced to audiences last Christmas in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

When asked by Vulture about the fan-theory that Obi-Wan Kenobi is Rey’s father, Ridley had this to say:

We will see in a year. Just sit tight on that question.

Sounds like we will definitely be getting the answer in a year when Episode VIII hits theaters. But there is one thing I can tell you for sure, Rey’s father is most certainly not Obi-Wan Kenobi.

What we know:

The Force Awakens is set 32 years after Return of the Jedi, the end of the classic trilogy which spanned 6 years in the timeline — making it a total of 38 years since the death of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. At the time of The Force Awakens, Rey is 19 years old, which means she would not be conceived for another 19 years after Obi-Wan’s death so it would be impossible for the Jedi Master to be her father unless he donated to a galactic sperm bank before his demise.

What makes sense:

While some signs point to Luke Skywalker being the father of Rey, there is a bigger chance that Rey is actually a vergence in the force. A vergence or nexus point was a phenomenon of the force that was centered on a place or around an object, and in some rare cases a person.

“I have encountered a vergence in the Force.”
“Located around a person?”

―Qui-Gon Jinn and Mace Windu on the discovery of Anakin Skywalker.

When the force is out of balance, the force itself will create a vergence to restore balance between the light and the dark. With the dark side rising with Snoke and Kylo Ren — and Luke in exile on Ahch-To, it’s possible that Rey was created with the purpose of finding Luke and restoring balance to the force in the galaxy together.

SOURCE: VULTURE

JJ Abrams Talks Rey’s Forceback in ‘The Force Awakens’

Another clip from the commentary track on the upcoming 3D blu-ray collectors edition of The Force Awakens featuring director of JJ Abrams made it’s debut on yesterday’s episode of ‘The Star Wars Show’.

In the clip, which begins at 1:54 into the episode, Abrams provides his insight to one of the more mysterious scenes in the film — when Rey discovers and touches Anakin Skywalkers original lightsaber, lost by Luke in The Empire Strikes Back — propelling Rey into her forceback vision, witnessing several moments in time from the Skywalker Saga.

In this scene, she is drawn to this place, almost like Cinderella. And she goes to this box, which, when she opens, she discovers something that of course has no meaning to her. She’s never seen this before — doesn’t know what it is, but has meaning to the audience. Touching the lightsaber triggers what we called the “Forceback.” There were many iterations of this. In one, from the Cloud City Corridor, she looked down and saw Vader fighting Luke, which we ended up cutting. We wanted it to be a more personal story, something that she couldn’t comprehend, that was overwhelming to her, frightening to her, that was taking her through all of these elemental experiences, of fire, of rain, snow, wind. But also that she was being confronted with truths about the Force, about the past. The Knights of Ren here, the past for herself. She realizes that the cries she heard were actually her own cries as a young girl being taken away from her family. And then she hears a voice, “Rey,” and that’s Obi-Wan Kenobi.

What’s interesting here is that Abrams mentions how Rey saw Luke in his confrontation with Darth Vader — which was cut from the film, however. What he doesn’t mention was the young boy she also saw at the end of the corridor on Cloud City. While the book does not describe who he is, most fans assume it is a young Anakin Skywalker.

Due to these moments being cut from the film but still included in the novelization by Alan Dean Foster, the canon tends to get a bit murky specifically for The Force Awakens. But Lucasfilm has said that everything included in the novelization is in fact canon.

There are several other scenes that were cut from the film as well including Unkar Plutt catching up to Rey on Takodana which was revealed in a clip just the other day. In addition to that, Poe’s escape from Jakku was also mysteriously absent from the film but made it’s way into a DLC for the films Lego game. I myself was pretty confused when he popped up leading the Resistance into battle against the First Order smack dab in the middle of the film’s second act.

Lastly, when Rey began to overtake Kylo Ren in their duel she heard a mysterious voice egging her on to strike down Kylo. While it was not said who the voice belonged to, many fans assume this was Supreme Leader Snoke communicating to her as she no doubt channeled the dark side.

Time will tell whether we learn if any more of the film found it’s way to the cutting room floor (I’m looking at you Korr Sella).

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens 3D blu-ray collectors edition hits shelves November 15, 2016.

JJ Abrams Talks ‘Star Wars’: “The Force Awakens” Reshoots

The 3D collections edition blu-ray for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is getting ready to hit shelves on November 15. Just a few days ago Lucasfilm released a clip from the film’s commentary track featuring director JJ Abrams commenting on that heartbreaking scene that left many fans with their guts ripped out.

Today Yahoo! has got the exclusive on another preview of the film’s commentary track featuring Abrams discussing one of the film’s most iconic moments when Rey (Daisy Ridley) takes a moment to focus and find the strength of the force within her as she duels with Kylo Ren.

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/star-wars-force-awakens-exclusive-125500342.html?format=embed

It’s interesting that JJ mentions the shot featuring Rey in her fiercest moment — no doubt channeling the dark side — was actually a reshoot added into the duel at a later point. This is most definitely an attempt to ease audience’s minds who are feeling a bit trepidatious over the infamous reshoots for the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

In addition to the reshoots for the duel in the snow, JJ Abrams has already gone on record stating that the chemistry between Rey and Finn (John Boyega) was not working after he reviewed dailies from the shoot in Abu Dhabi. At first, there was too much hostility between the two characters. Some scenes were completely reshot including much of what happened on the Millennium Falcon after the two escaped from Jakku. Harrison Ford’s on-set injury allowed Abrams to go back and rewrite the scenes he felt needed improvement.

Head on over to IGN to watch another clip from the commentary where Abrams describes the differences between what was originally shot for Rey and Finn’s first meeting compared to what was reshot for the film’s final cut.

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