‘Star Wars The Last Jedi’ photos, trailer, poster and details revealed at Star Wars Celebration
Fans camped out for hours to be part of the Star Wars: The Last Jedi panel at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and Last Jedi director Rian Johnson kicked off the event, revealing behind-the-scenes photos and stating that the film is still in post-production, but they’re “very far along.”
Cheers could be heard down the street as the first trailer begin to play, centering mostly on the remote island where Luke (Mark Hamill) is training Rey (Daisy Ridley) and a new planet called Crait, the location of “an old rebel base that’s now abandoned,” according to Johnson.
Ridley made a “surprise appearance” and said she expects fans to look forward to hearing Luke Skywalker speak for the first time as few got to see a few photos from the new film.
One picture shows a shadowy Rey standing on the shore of the island where fans last saw her at the end of 2015’s The Force Awakens. John Boyega’s Finn is back, though he is shown to be recovering from the wounds he received from Kylo Ren at the end of The Force Awakens.
Poe (Oscar Isaac), in classic Resistance orange, runs through a hallway as sparks fly and BB-8 spins alongside him in one photo which aligns with the action revealed in the first trailer. The late Carrie Fisher returns as General Leia Organa in front of a 3D map of the galaxy floating over the table.
In another image, several fighters are engaged in a space battle as red and green blasts shoot through the air.
Joining the stars was Kelly Marie Tran, a newcomer to the franchise. “[She] has the biggest new part in the movie and ironically is played by the smallest actor,” Johnson said as she entered the stage.
“She’s part of the Resistance, and she works in maintenance. I can’t wait for you to meet her,” said Tran, an Asian American comedian known for her digital shorts.
“She’s not a soldier,” Johnson explained. “She’s not looking to be a hero, and she gets pulled a very big way into an adventure in this movie with Finn [John Boyega].”
Tran actually kept the casting news secret from everyone, including her family.
“They didn’t know for four months,” Tran explained. “I told them I was doing an indie movie in Canada. At one point, I actually got some maple syrup so I could bring it back to them so they actually thought I was in Canada.”
“She’s pretty rad,” Johnson added about Rose.
Then there was the trailer, which opens with Rey on the island where we saw Luke, followed by Rey training contrasted with Darth Vader’s breathing and an angry shot of Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren. Gwendoline Christie’s Captain Phasma is briefly seen with some troopers and there’s a great shot of the rebels set to engage incoming AT-ATs.
The rugged looking Luke closes out the footage: “I only know one truth. It’s time for the Jedi to end.”
Fans who made it into the panel received a complimentary mini-version of the new poster, which you can check out below.
The Last Jedi follows up where 2015’s cultural and box office titan Star Wars: The Force Awakens left off. Johnson wrote and directed the movie starring Hamill, Driver, Ridley, Boyega, Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Christie, Jimmy Vee and Andy Serkis.
New stars include Benicio del Toro, Laura Dern, and Tran.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrives in theaters on Dec. 15.
[…] The trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi revealed a dark and somber mood that already sets it apart from The Force Awakens. […]