Now that most fans have seen Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm‘s Star Wars: The Last Jedi on opening weekend, director Rian Johnson has begun opening up on spoilers. Johnsons and the film’s editor, Bob Ducsay, have also spoken to Collider about The Last Jedi deleted scenes, 20 minutes of which will be appearing on the eventual Blu-ray! Considering an early cut of the two-hour-and-30-minute film ran three hours, that means we’ll be seeing nearly all of the deleted material.
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“All the major stuff, all the good stuff, we put on there,” Johnson confirmed of the Blu-ray. “There’s a whole extended sequence where Finn and Rose and DJ sneak through the Mega Destroyer when they’re kind of, after they sneak in with DJ and they’re trying to find the tracker. There’s a whole extended sequence. It’s a full sequence of like stuff with them sneaking through this big office area of the Mega Destroyer and then having to fake out these Stormtroopers. And then on the island there’s a massive sequence that we shot with Daisy and Mark, which is kind of an additional sort of trial/test that she goes through, that involves her and Mark, and then a big emotional scene between the two of them. I mean, it’s big stuff, it’s like actual real scenes. There’s an extended sequence with Rey and the caretakers, which are the Nun-like fish creatures. That’s actually one of the biggest things that was taken out of the movie. And there’s this incursion on Snoke’s ship, I mean there’s a lot of stuff that was cut out of that, with Rose and DJ and Finn, and some of it is particularly fun. There’s a couple Finn scenes that—there’s one great Finn/Poe scene that’s kind of a set up scene at the beginning when Poe was kind of bringing Finn up to speed after he comes out of his coma. God, there’s a bunch of really fun stuff. Yeah, anyway, we talk more about them when the Blu-ray comes out, but I’m excited for folks to see them.”
“There’s an extended sequence with Rey and the caretakers, which are the Nun-like fish creatures,” Ducsay added. “That’s actually one of the biggest things that was taken out of the movie. And there’s this incursion on Snoke’s ship, I mean there’s a lot of stuff that was cut out of that, with Rose and DJ and Finn, and some of it is particularly fun. There’s some really nice stuff in there, but we actually cut that stuff pretty early because it was very clear that that section of the movie was completely lopsided in favor of those three, and it just didn’t support it. But it’s good stuff. It’s really good stuff. I assume when you’ll see it, you’ll enjoy it because I mean, we all did. It was cut early, and how you always know is like my staff, there’s a decent number of assistants and collaborators that work in the cutting room, and they were all complaining when we cut the sequence. And that’s how you know that it was something that people like.”
Johnson also spoke to Business Insider about the negative fan reaction The Last Jedi has received in some outspoken corners of the internet and Twittersphere.
“Having been a Star Wars fan my whole life, and having spent most of my life on the other side of the curb and in that fandom, it softens the blow a little bit,” said Johnson of the criticism. “I’m aware through my own experience that, first of all, the fans are so passionate, they care so deeply — sometimes they care very violently at me on Twitter. But it’s because they care about these things, and it hurts when you’re expecting something specific and you don’t get it from something that you love. It always hurts, so I don’t take it personally if a fan reacts negatively and lashes out on me on Twitter. That’s fine. It’s my job to be there for that. Every fan has a list of stuff they want a Star Wars movie to be and they don’t want a Star Wars movie to be. You’re going to find very few fans out there whose lists line up. And I also know the same way the original movies were personal for Lucas. Lucas never made a Star Wars movie by sitting down and thinking, ‘What do the fans want to see?’ And I knew if I wrote wondering what the fans would want, as tempting as that is, it wouldn’t work, because people would still be shouting at me, ‘F— you, you ruined Star Wars,’ and I would make a bad movie. And ultimately, that’s the one thing nobody wants. And let me just add that 80-90% of the reaction I’ve gotten from Twitter has been really lovely. There’s been a lot of joy and love from fans. When I talk about the negative stuff, that’s not the full picture of the fans at all.”
You can read our Star Wars: The Last Jedi reviews here and here. You can view all our previous Star Wars: The Last Jedi coverage by clicking here.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is written and directed by Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper) and continues the storylines introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, welcoming back cast members Mark Hamill, the late Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Lupita Nyong’o, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis. New cast members will include Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, Academy Award nominee Laura Dern, and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran.
The sequel is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski.
