It is, as the saying goes, a dark time for the Rebellion—and for everyone else involved in the Star Wars franchise, as things are astonishingly quiet out there right now. Could it be that the silence persists because everyone is working on projects in the lull between Star Wars Celebration and D23? Perhaps the looming shadow of Comic-Con International in San Diego is soaking up the conversation in the nerd sphere. Or maybe, there's just … nothing to actually talk about right now when it comes to Star Wars. Well, nothing aside from the news below, of course.
The Rise of Skywalker Reshoots Are On
Source: Multiple online outlets
Probability of accuracy: It would certainly appear to be true, and definitely checks out in terms of timeline before the movie gets released.
The real deal: Apparently, additional shoots are underway for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, with a couple of sources reporting that Black Park in the UK has been closed off for either reshoots or pickups, with an X-wing fighter being part of the additional shots. Apparently, there's a notice that the shoot might continue through early September, which feels unexpectedly late considering the movie is scheduled to hit theaters in December. If true, expect some very late nights for editors and the visual effects team. But don't worry about the movie having reshoots this late in the game; these days, such things are common, so this is unlikely to be some kind of Rogue One situation where the entire movie gets significantly changed after the first pass at production.
Expect an Unexpected Adventure In Rise
Source: Rey herself, Daisy Ridley
Probability of accuracy: This is vague enough to be easily explained away in multiple directions depending on what the finished movie is like, but let's go with "accurate" for now.
The real deal: Daisy Ridley, who's currently doing press for her appearance in Ophelia, has been teasing the upcoming Rise of Skywalker in the vaguest of terms, telling USA Today, "Genre-wise, it's different from the other two [installments Ridley has appeared in], which will become clear when the film comes out. It's quite emotional. There's a different drive than the previous two films, but there's a lot of fun. I really missed John [Boyega] during the last one, but we're back together, and now Oscar [Isaac] is part of it. To me, it felt like kids going on an adventure." This lines up with previous statements made by director J.J. Abrams and others about the tone of the movie, and also rumors that Rey, Finn, and Poe would spend the majority of the movie together. Now, if only we could find out more about the rest of the movie.
The Throne Room Duel Was Just a Warm-Up for Rey and Kylo
Source: Once again, Daisy Ridley
Probability of accuracy: We'll have to wait until the movie's out to know for sure, but it sounds pretty credible right now.
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The real deal: Elsewhere, Ridley is now confirming that, yes, the lightsaber fight between Rey and Kylo Ren wasn't just something staged for a Vanity Fair photo shoot, but is an important part of the finished movie itself. "We have a great fight," she said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "A great fight. And I was really happy that the Vanity Fair pictures did show a bit of it. It's a great fight. Like I've become such a better fighter, and they made the lightsabers lighter, so it actually looks like we're swinging light and not like heavy, heavy [blades] … It feels really epic, and it felt epic even at the time." This suggests that those hoping for a redemptive story arc for Kylo Ren might end up just a little disappointed by what's onscreen this December. (Mind you, Return of the Jedi did have a very last minute about-face for its central villain, so who can tell?)
The Worlds of Rise of Skywalker Are Hot and … Pretty Blurry, Actually
Source: Anonymous sources providing blurry photographs, it seems
Probability of accuracy: We can’t even make out what’s in these images, how are we supposed to know if they’re accurate? (And accurate to … what?)
The real deal: Underscoring just how quiet it is out there in the Star Wars universe, Making Star Wars made headlines with some very blurry, indistinct photos that may be concept art from the new movie. What can be gleaned from the images? Not much. They're so unclear they could be almost anything, with even the report noting, "it would be an overstep to pretend we know what any of this stuff actually pertains to." For what it's worth, it appears to be images of an unknown location that, in some shots, appear to be covered in lava. Could this be where the Knights of Ren have been hanging out all these years, or some other hideaway relating to the First Order? One thing's for sure, it certainly doesn't look like somewhere the good guys want to be, wherever it is.