|
 Walt Disney Co <DIS.N> closed off an entire city block in the
center of Hollywood to host the celebrity-studded debut
screening of the highly anticipated film, which opens for the
general public in theaters around the world on Thursday.
Staff waving glowing light sabers guided premiere attendees,
among them "Star Wars" royalty Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill, to
the event's ceremonial blue carpet under a large tent, outfitted
to resemble a spaceship hangar beneath a star-lit sky. Replicas
of three X-wing Starfighters dangled overhead.
Actor Harrison Ford, whose Hans Solo character died in the2015
installment "The Force Awakens," joined the celebration.Adam
Driver, returning in "Rise of Skywalker" as Solo's progeny
turned knight of the Dark Side, Kylo Ren, also appeared. Other
iA-listers in the crowd included directors Steven Spielberg and
Spike Lee and actress Frances McDormand.
“Well this is terrifying,” director J.J. Abrams said inside the
Dolby Theatre as he prepared to show the film to a large
audience for the first time. But he said he was glad to unveil
the movie at a time when “it’s rare to find something that
brings people together.”
“Nothing brings people together quite like ‘ Star Wars’,” he
said.
"Rise of Skywalker" caps a blockbuster film series that ranks as
the second-highest-grossing movie franchise of all time, with
more than $9.2 billion in ticket sales.
It concludes a story that began 42 years ago, in 1977, when
filmmaker George Lucas introduced a young hero named Luke
Skywalker (Hamill) and delighted audiences with a galaxy of
metallic robots called droids, a race of tall, furry warriors
known as Wookiees and a host of other eclectic characters.
[to top of second column] |
SUPERFANS
The “Rise of Skywalker” premiere audience, including superfans
dressed as favorite characters, gave a standing ovation to Hamill
and composer John Williams during an introduction before the film.
The crowd cheered, gasped and applauded throughout the movie. .
“Yeah, J.J.!” one person yelled after a surprising plot turn.
Princess Leia returned in the new movie - despite the 2016death of
Carrie Fisher, the actress who played her - by way of a storyline
crafted by filmmakers from unused footage of the performer from "The
Force Awakens".
While the latest film brings the saga of the Skywalker family to an
end, Disney plans future "Star Wars" movies with new characters
starting in December 2022. The company also is running a "Star Wars"
television series on its streaming service, Disney+, and is
developing at least two more.
With the movie series, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said in an
interview: “We’re going to make sure we take our time until we know
that it's right.”
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Steve Gorman,
Richard Chang and Gareth Jones)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
