Entertainment Weekly - 11.2019

DECEMBER

FA

LLMOVIE

PR

EVIEW

↓ Keri Russell suited up as the mysterious criminal Zorii Bliss

DIRECTED BY J.J. Abrams STARRING Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar

Isaac, Keri Russell, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams IN THEATERS Dec. 20

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

LAST CALL

AT THE CANTINA

“Endings are the thing

that scare me the most,”

admits J.J. Abrams.

Which means co-writing

and directing Star Wars: The Rise of

Skywalker must have been nothing

short of terrifying. After all, there

has never been a film tasked with

wrapping up more stories that span

a longer cinematic time period than

Skywalker, which not only finishes

the recent Lucasfilm-produced tril-

ogy that launched with 2015’s The

Force Awakens but also caps George

Lucas’ six original films that began

with 1977’s A New Hope—that’s 42

years of blockbuster sci-fi adven-

tures concluding in one film.

“This is about bringing this thing

to a close in a way that is emotional

and meaningful, and also satisfying

in terms of actually answering

[as many] questions as possible,”

Abrams says. “So, if years from

now someone’s watching these

movies, all nine of them, they’re

watching a story that is cohesive.

We’re not screwing around.”

If Skywalker didn’t have enough

to handle in its narrative galaxy, the

film is also bringing back Billy Dee

Williams’ Lando Calrissian, his first

appearance since 1983’s Return of

the Jedi, as well as the late Carrie

Fisher’s beloved Leia Organa ( by

repurposing previously unseen foot-

age shot for Force Awakens) and Ian

McDiarmid’s sinister Emperor Pal-

patine (“As a kid, I remember feeling

anyone who could boss around

Darth Vader was pretty badass,”

Abrams says of the Sith Lord).

Plus, Skywalker has new charac-

ters, including Keri Russell’s

mysterious Zorii Bliss and Naomi

Ackie’s bow-and-arrow-wielding

Jannah, while also taking time to

answer the current trilogy’s biggest

burning questions, such as: Kylo

Ren and Rey—enemies? Friends?

Lovers? All three? “This whole Rey-

Lo thing, it’s no joke,” Daisy Ridley

says of fan obsession with the duo.

“It’s not skimmed over, it’s dealt with

really well.” Along with roughly 327

other story lines. —James Hibberd

Additional reporting > Anthony Breznican

E

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

: LUCASFILM LTD.; RUSSELL: GEORGE PIMENTEL/WIREIMAGE

The new series

from New York Times

bestselling author

RENÉE

AHDIEH

and they’re more seductive than ever.”
—Bustle

—The New York Times Book Review

—SABAA TAHIR,

New York Times bestselling

author of An Ember in the Ashes

and they’re more seductive than ever.”
—Bustle

—The New York Times Book Review

—SABAA TAHIR,

New York Times bestselling

author of An Ember in the Ashes

A SECRET UNDERWORLD.

FORBIDDEN DESIRE.

VA M PI R E S.

Enter the World of

The Beautiful.