Julius

Also, the box office numbers are in. And they’re good. They’re very good. The film had an opening weekend domestic intake of $220 million (the second highest domestic opening weekend of all time, only behind The Force Awakens) and an international intake of $230 million (placing it quite high, but it has yet to release in China, so I won’t delve into those statistics yet), culminating in a $450 million worldwide opening weekend. Furthermore, it grossed over $100 million in its opening 24 hours in the US (Thursday night previews and Friday), becoming only the second film to ever do so (after The Force Awakens). I don’t expect crazy numbers like these for May’s Solo, and it’s difficult to tell where the box office will go with regards to TLJ, but I’m very happy for Lucasfilm and Rian Johnson, and I can’t wait to see and hear more about his trilogy.

There was a general outline for the sequel trilogy, and places to end up by the end of it all. Rian Johnson quite literally had a blank slate and was allowed to do almost anything in his space - it was his decision to pick up straight after The Force Awakens, for instance, because he wanted to see what happened next - with The Last Jedi, so long as it didn’t close any doors on what they had outlined initially.

Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, revealed yesterday that Episode IX director J.J. Abrams will be pitching his idea for the story of the film today, during a conference.

I wouldn’t say that I was relying on them, just mentioning them. I’ve already seen the film, and hardly ever pay attention to such scores anyway (especially given the whole The Dark Knight vs. The Godfather fiasco over on IMDb a few years ago). It stood at 56% from over 8000 people at the time that I posted, so even if the next 8000 were to hypothetically all give it positive reviews, it would still only stand at a rating of 72% (it’s also atypical for those who have already given a review to change it, even if their opinion of the film does radically change).

The film’s currently down to a 56% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest of any of the live-action Star Wars movies, compared with a 93% critic score. It’s completely nuts just how divisive this film is.

I really hope that you get more enjoyment out of the film from your second viewing, especially if you’re actively pursuing affection for the film! I’m thinking of seeing it for a third time tomorrow. It’s an excuse to get out of the house, do some Christmas shopping...and pick up the Visual Dictionary for the film, which Amazon messed up in my order.

Nintendo... ...stop taking my money!

Honestly, I was clueless about their name change up until I did a bit more research a few weeks ago when the talks between them and Disney were first announced. Prior to this, I genuinely just thought that they’d finally figured out that it was the 21st century now,and changed their name accordingly!

20th Century Fox (News Corporation, founded in 1979) spun off into two separate companies in 2013: 21st Century Fox - which consisted primarily of popular media such as TV shows and movies, as well as media outlets - and News Corp - which took on the publishing and broadcasting of assets in Australia.

It’s really interesting that you say that it needed more time in the editing suite: it’s actually the earliest a live-action SW film has been prepared prior to release! As for the pacing and plot lines, I agree that it’s a bit frantic at times, but I think the core reason as to why so many feel that it’s a mess in particular is because of one thing that we’ve all come to expect - not just with Star Wars, but films in general these days - that’s almost completely missing here:

I was completely clueless about how I felt about the film after first seeing it, but boy did my second viewing of the film work wonders for my thoughts. Still a long way off feeling like I can definitively give my final thoughts and verdict on the film, but it’s up there for me.

I think that the original ideas for the characters and their arcs are fine, if I’m honest: the changes made to the film late on clearly changed the paths these characters would take. My biggest issues with RO are pacing (the first fifteen minutes especially, and let’s not forget the atrocious iMovie title card, nor the location cards) and a dependence on fan service, which kills much of the enjoyment of the first two acts that I had when I went to watch it in the cinema. Running into characters like Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba on Jedha, hearing about the Whills, or even the final scene with Vader wrecking shop and a CG recreation of Carrie’s face feels inconsequential, and honestly a little bit stale, if one wishes to watch the film again, in my opinion. Back to The Last Jedi, though, I’m getting ready to go out and watch it again. Are you planning on seeing/have you seen TLJ, @Ronnie?

I’m completely on the fence: having seen the movie, I now have no idea as to what make of it. My second viewing couldn’t come soon enough. A couple of my nitpicks thus far:

That’s extremely bold...and I’m loving it. What do you think makes it better than TESB, @Cube?

Alright...let’s open the floodgates and talk about this. I’m not even sure where to begin, there’s just that much to talk about. I’m assuming we’ll be using spoiler tags for up until Monday, at least? Or are we just telling others to steer clear of this thread until they’ve seen the film? @Mr-Paul @will' @dazzybee @Charlie

I’m back for all of five seconds to just say that flicking through a couple of completely spoiler-free reviews has pumped me up for this film even more (I didn’t know that was possible)! And with that, I am returning to my self-imposed exile...

Right, we’re now (less than) one week away! With the world premiere on Saturday evening, and the opening 10/15 minutes shown in Japan last night during a preview, I’m officially leaving the internet. See you all on the other side!

18 “secret” films have been mentioned to be in the works in an interview, beyond those already announced for after Phase 3’s completion (i.e. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4, a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, etc.). This train ain’t ever gonna stop. On the topic of trains never stopping, Deadline is reporting that the Disney/FOX merger could be completed within a matter of days. Which would be great news for Deadpool, apparently...