Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker editor Maryann Brandon says the film's Luke Skywalker Force ghost scene was a reshoot. While the term has a fairly negative reputation among mainstream audiences (thanks to extreme cases like Justice League), pickups and reshoots are a common aspect of film production and are worked into the regular schedule. Just about every studio tentpole goes through additional photography, including last year's mega blockbuster Avengers: Endgame. Several moments in Endgame's final battle were the product of those reshoots, such as Iron Man's fateful final line.
Of course, the Star Wars franchise is no stranger to the reshoot process. Not every situation is as drastic as Solo: A Star Wars Story (where Ron Howard essentially remade the entire film after Phil Lord & Chris Miller were fired), but each installment in the Disney era has gone through pickups, with the goal of enhancing certain elements of the final product. For instance, The Last Jedi retooled parts like Admiral Holdo's characterization in reshoots. Now that The Rise of Skywalker has been out in theaters for a few weeks, it comes out one of its biggest sequences was a reshoot.
Speaking with the Art of the Cut podcast (hat tip Collider), Brandon talked about what Rise of Skywalker scenes were reshoots. In addition to Rey's introduction (where she's floating and calling out to the old Jedi), two other Rey-centric moments were the product of pickups, including Luke's Force ghost appearance:
“The scene on the island with Luke, when Luke sees Rey. The film kind of informed us, after it was together, what it needed to say so we went back and got that dialogue. There was like a funny moment between Poe and Rey when he lands the Falcon and it’s on fire, we wanted to have a more humorous exchange between them. Nothing major, no.”
Mark Hamill was included in the official Rise of Skywalker cast list that was announced prior to principal photography in July 2018, so the plan from the beginning was to give Luke a role in the movie. It's possible that director J.J. Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio had something different in place for Luke earlier in development, and later decided to change things once they had a greater idea of how the film was shaping up. It's unknown what spurred the alterations, but Brandon specifically mentions the scene's dialogue, implying the reshoots had something to do with Luke's message to Rey. In the final film, the scavenger is at her lowest point when she sees Luke, choosing to live in isolation out of fear of who she is. Skywalker tells his apprentice some things are stronger than blood and encourages her to face Palpatine. It'll be interesting to see if details concerning previous versions are shared.
It's very fascinating Luke's Force ghost scene was a notable Rise of Skywalker reshoot, as that sequence proved to be one of the more controversial in the movie. Some saw it as a rebuke of The Last Jedi, though Abrams denies those claims and feels the scene continues Luke's sequel trilogy arc. It's true Luke should have a less cynical outlook on life following his Last Jedi experiences, but there are still certain aspects of the Rise of Skywalker scene that don't add up with what came before (like the X-wing retcon), creating unnecessary plot holes. Luke's scene was reshot (at least partially) in July 2019, long after Last Jedi discourse split Star Wars fandom. This isn't to say changes were implemented as a response to Last Jedi's critics, but fans will probably be very curious to learn what about the scene changed.
Source: The Art of the Cut (via Collider)