Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker star John Boyega admits it was his copy of the script that was stolen and placed on eBay. The Rise of Skywalker is of course billed as the final chapter in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and given its significance in the grand scheme of Star Wars, it's no surprise that director J.J. Abrams and company are taking every precaution possible to make sure that no spoilers make their way to the internet ahead of the film's release.
But as it turns out, those spoilers did almost get out to the world thanks to a potential nightmare scenario where an entire copy of the script somehow found its way to eBay. As Abrams himself recently explained, an unnamed member of the cast lost track of their script, which ended up being offered for sale online to anyone willing to pay. Luckily for Abrams, Disney and especially the unnamed cast member, the script was purchased by Disney itself and put back under lock and key before any of the movie's secrets could find their way out.
Now, the actual Rise of Skywalker cast member responsible for the near-leak has come forward to take responsibility for the gaffe. Speaking to GMA, Finn actor Boyega admitted it was his copy of the script that was snatched, but claimed the whole thing was an accident. See Boyega's tweet on the subject in the space below:
As Boyega explained to GMA host Michael Strahan, the script debacle was all a result of carelessness on his part:
Let me tell you how this all went down. What happened was, it was actually from my apartment. I was moving apartments and I left the script under my bed. I was just like, you know what, I’m going to leave it under my bed. When I wake up in the morning, I’ll take it and then move. But then my boys came over and we started partying a little bit. And then the script, it just stayed there. And then a few like weeks after, this cleaner comes in, finds the script and then puts on eBay for like £65. So the person didn’t know the true value. And I actually thought this was a great opportunity for the fans to read the movie before they see it. Maybe I’m on to something. You know what I mean?
Given the relatively small amount that was being asked for the script (about $83), it's actually quite amazing no one else grabbed it before Disney found the eBay posting and bought back the missing material. In the end, it turned out to be a no harm, no foul situation for everyone involved.
For Boyega, the whole misadventure almost ended up being the worst embarrassment an actor in a franchise could possibly endure. Of course, some actors like Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo have gained reputations for being unable to keep things under wraps. Indeed, Ruffalo had his own memorable gaffe when he accidentally livestreamed audio from the beginning of Thor: Ragnarok during a pre-release screening when he forgot to turn his phone off. Had Boyega's script been purchased by someone outside of Disney, leaking all the movie's secrets to the internet, he would have easily eclipsed Holland and Ruffalo as the biggest spoiler of all-time. But luckily Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker remains unspoiled thanks to the quick work of whoever Disney has monitoring eBay for leaked material.
Source: John Boyega/Twitter, GMA
