Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – what we learned from the Vanity Fair special
JJ Abrams and co have hinted the finale will involve less CGI, more new characters … and screen time for Carrie Fisher
In just under seven months’ time, a saga spanning nine films, three generations and 42 years will finally be over, bringing the epic story of the Skywalker family to a close. After steering The Force Awakens into favourable regard with fans, JJ Abrams has returned to co-write and direct the final movie in Disney’s semi-rebooted sequel trilogy, after stepping aside for Rian Johnson for 2017’s The Last Jedi. He might come to regret it: Abrams has the unenviable triple-task of following a film that veered off at several unexpected vectors, wrapping up a self-contained trilogy and tying a bow around a vast tale whose telling has taken the best past of half a century. To say there’s a lot of responsibility resting on his shoulders would be putting it mildly.
Abrams, Lucasfilm head honcho Kathleen Kennedy and Episode IX’s cast recently sat down with Vanity Fair to discuss the film, somewhat inevitably giving almost nothing away. Nevertheless, a few titbits about what we can expect leaked through the NDA-imposed forcefield of tight-lippedness. Here’s what we know.