At long last, the final chapter in the Skywalker Saga from director J.J. Abrams arrives in theaters on December 20. Two new TV spots for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” offer more of a glimpse at the battle for the Resistance, and the fates of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Rey (Daisy Ridley) as they prepare to go head to head.
In the spot titled “Voices,” the Emperor announces, “This will be the final word in the story of Skywalker!” following a montage of battle-driven footage that portends a satisfying conclusion to the story. In “Secret,” Kylo Ren and Rey appear to share a dark simpatico — as hinted at in Rian Johnson’s 2017 “The Last Jedi.”
The new film boasts all your favorite “Star Wars” players: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Richard E. Grant, Keri Russell, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, and Ian McDiarmid, and yes, Carrie Fisher in a posthumous role. The upcoming film is set a year after the events of “Last Jedi,” as the remnants of the Resistance once again face the First Order and the long conflict between the Jedi and the Sith comes to a head.
Director Abrams recently revealed that the groundwork (which was divisive among fans) laid by Johnson in “Last Jedi” was instrumental for the setup for the finale. “When [Johnson] came to work on the next film, and we were just starting to shoot ‘The Force Awakens,’ I was really excited to see where he would go and what he would do,” Abrams said. “And it’s funny because one of the things I was thinking at first was, ‘Oh, I really want to see all the friends together.’ And in his story, they really weren’t. Rey doesn’t really meet Poe until the end. Rey and Finn are not really together in the movie.”
In the Yahoo! interview, Abrams also added, “In a way the story that he told in a lot of ways helped set up what we’re doing in 9. But it also allowed Episode 9 to have the group together and out on an adventure in a way that weirdly, even though it’s the third film, it’s the first time they are all together. There’s a lot of details Rian set up that we run with in this movie. I don’t think this movie would’ve been nearly what it is without the choices Rian made, so I’m nothing but grateful.”
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