Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker isn't just the end of the new trilogy; it's the end of a saga that has spanned decades beginning with
A New Hope in 1977. As such, there's a ton of pressure on director J.J. Abrams to provide a fitting end cap to the long-running Skywalker Saga. So who better to help him tackle such a monster task than original
Star Wars creator George Lucas?
Speaking to IGN, Abrams revealed that he met with Lucas before working on the script of
The Rise of Skywalker to discuss the vastness of the story and how to bring it all home.
"This movie had a very, very specific challenge which was to take eight films and give an ending to three trilogies. We had to look at what was the bigger story. We had conversations amongst ourselves. We met with George Lucas before we started writing the script. These were things that were in real, not debate, but you look at the sort of vastness of the story and trying to figure out what is the way to conclude this. But it has to work on its own as a movie. It has to be its own thing. It has to be surprising and funny, and you have to understand it. You can't assume anyone has sat and watched eight movies before this one. And yet, I want a kid to be able to watch Episodes 1-9 and see that one story."
There were a ton of questions heading into the reveal of
The Rise of Skywalker stemming from some pretty divisive decisions made by the previous director Rian Johnson on
The Last Jedi. Whereas Johnson sought to expand the galaxy beyond the Skywalker family tree with
Episode VIII, it appears Abrams is more keen on injecting some Skywalker blood back into
Episode IX, as evidenced by the name of the film and the big twist at the end of the teaser. The big question now is how does it all come together in the end, and who is the title referring to?
There's no doubt that
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker poses a challenge unlike any previous
Star Wars film before it. In a lengthier interview prior to Star Wars Celebration, Abrams explained how the daunting nature of the film, with such a tight deadline, almost
made him pass up on the opportunity to direct The Rise of Skywalker.
Thankfully, he accepted the job and it seems like
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has been met with wild enthusiasm, even from those who appeared to hop off the ship following
The Last Jedi.