Weeks ago, a video announcement for the upcoming ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ was posted on the official YouTube channel for Star Wars, featuring Rey (Daisy Ridley) as she offered Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) his original lightsaber on the island of Skellig Michael in Ireland.
It has now been confirmed by Ridley that such footage will be the opening scene for the highly anticipated ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII.’
In an interview with MTV News, the 23-year-old actress confirmed that the cast and crew have returned to Skellig Michael to film the opening scene for the upcoming sequel to ‘The Force Awakens,’ to be helmed by Rian Johnson.
“Me and Mark [Hamill] have been rehearsing a lot, and it’s really amazing. When we went back to Skellig to do the opening of VIII, it was so crazy doing the same scene with a different crew of people. He’s amazing to rehearse with, and I’m very excited to be doing the rest of the stuff,” Ridley said.
Such revelation has also addressed questions about the said scene in the video announcement merely being a behind-the-scenes footage of ‘The Force Awakens.’
Lucasfilm Creative Executive Pablo Hidalgo also made a clarification by pointing to the helmer behind the camera in the video announcement. Posting a response to Twitter user Steele Wars Podcast, Hidalgo replied with: “@SteeleWars I’d say the presence of a certain director [Rian Johnson] on it should make it clear enough.”
Meanwhile, Ridley also dropped hints about the relevance of Luke Skywalker’s presence in the storyline for ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII.’
“It’s such a good story. Seriously. Luke is so cool in this one. Really,” the Westminster native said.
Hamill’s character is then expected to be of great importance in the storyline of the upcoming ‘Star Wars’ installment, especially after going missing for many years. While Luke remained in isolation in a hidden Jedi temple, his sister General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) carried on with the fight against the forces of the First Order.
Luke had also put up with training with a younger Ben Solo, who became disloyal to him and turned to the dark side to follow Snoke (Andy Serkis), thereby becoming Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).
As fans and moviegoers are now aware of, Kylo Ren murdered his own father, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and is not currently included in the announced cast list for ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII.’
Meanwhile, sources have been suggesting that the next numbered installment will be titled ‘Star Wars: Tale of the Jedi Temple,’ and will reportedly be confirmed on May The Fourth.
Another title was also suggested with which a Croatian Star Wars fan site states that the new movie will be called ‘Star Wars: The Order of the Dark Side.’ While the first title could be referring to Luke’s search for the first ever Jedi temple, the second one makes reference to Kylo Ren’s group of warriors- The First Order.
