Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson employed a fairly simple tactic to prevent spoilers for the film leaking out. Johnson was best known for twisty time-travel movie Looper and his low-budget debut Brick before he took on The Last Jedi, which had the tough task of following up on the cliffhanger ending of The Force Awakens while expanding the mythology of the series in new ways.
The story held a number of surprising twists, and now Rian Johnson has revealed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal how he managed to keep The Last Jedi’s secrets close to the chest. Turns out it wasn’t so difficult.
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“I typed Episode VIII out on a MacBook Air. For security it was ‘air-gapped’ — never connected to the internet. I carried it around and used it for nothing except writing the script. I kept it in a safe at Pinewood Studios. I think my producer was constantly horrified I would leave it in a coffee shop.”
While The Force Awakens proved to be a solid, nostalgic return to form for the franchise in 2015, it received criticism for leaning a little too hard on the past, and essentially remaking A New Hope. The Last Jedi set out to subvert the expectations of the fanbase from the beginning, which appears to have resulted in the most divisive entry to date. The film’s twists and turns have received both praise and scorn, and the debates show no sign of dying down.
Disney was no doubt hoping for a critical and commercial slamdunk with The Last Jedi, and while the film is doing very well financially, and while most reactions are positive, there is still a strong contingent of fans with much more divided views on the film. Disney didn’t have the smoothest ride with the franchise in 2017 either, thanks to the high profile departures of Lord & Miller from Solo: A Star Wars Story and Colin Trevorrow from Star Wars Episode 9.
While a trailer for Solo has yet to emerge despite the film’s fast approaching release date, Episode 9 appears to be in very safe hands with the return of JJ Abrams to the director’s chair. It will take time for the dust to settle on The Last Jedi, but if nothing else, the movie certainly got the fanbase talking.
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Source: The Wall Street Journal
