Jun 17, 2019 9:00 AM

Cantina Talk: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Got Made On the Run

One of the movie's editors was cutting it together while it was being shot.

image from 'Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker'

Of course, everybody knows that WIRED already broke the biggest Star Wars story of the past couple of weeks when we told you that Lucasfilm failed us all by not putting Emma Thompson in a movie, even though she wants to be in one. Hey, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, you have a new Star Wars trilogy in the works—call her agent! Meanwhile, although things have been relatively quiet on the official movie and TV announcement front since the last time we spoke, it’s not as if nothing is going on. Read the latest Cantina Talk below and see for yourself.

The Rise of Skywalker Got Made on the Run

The Source: The woman responsible for ensuring Episode IX made sense

Probability of Accuracy: She knows what she's talking about.

The Real Deal: The relatively short production schedule for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker meant that certain changes had to be made to the filmmaking process, according to Maryann Brandon, one of the movie's editors. At a recent public appearance, she revealed that the movie was being edited and assembled more or less in real time during shooting. "I was on the set the entire time, and [director J.J. Abrams] got so used to it that he was like, 'You need to be less than 10 feet away from me at all times'—so if the camera would move 10 feet, I would move 10 feet," she said. "I watched what they were shooting, I was cutting what they were shooting the day before." The process, born thanks to the looming deadline (the movie was scheduled for release less than a year after principal photography wrapped, a problem considering the amount of visual effects and post-production necessary), came with certain benefits, Brandon explained. "I had the DP right there to ask questions. If I needed a shot, or if J.J. decided we needed another shot, we would set up in a corner and get a green screen shot of something."

Is Star Wars: Quantum Leap a Thing?

The Source: An anonymously sourced online report

Probability of Accuracy: This one sounds unconvincing, but not impossible ...

The Real Deal: File this one under "Genuine Oddities": The site We Got This Covered ran a report last week claiming that there's potentially a new Disney+ show in the works that will feature "a slate of new characters, who try and go back in time in order to change the outcome of various key events within the Star Wars universe." Citing an unnamed "industry insider," the report also said, "One episode will apparently see them trying to kill a young version of Darth Vader." On the face of it, it seems unlikely—it's a very un-Star Wars concept, and there have been no other reports or leaks to support it—but at the same time, the end of Star Wars: Rebels did introduce the possibility of time travel, so it's not entirely unlikely, either.

The Next Star Wars Videogame Will Redefine the Force

The Source: Official publicity for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Probability of Accuracy: Prepare to discover new Force abilities in a few months; it's legit.

The Real Deal: We've known it was coming for some time, but the recent E3 confab revealed both a new trailer for, and more details about, the upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order videogame.

[#video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/8939aURV9Dc

The in-canon game not only will introduce new Jedi, and fascinatingly, new Force abilities (including the ability to slow other people's movements), but also will feature familiar faces and locations at a time when fans haven't previously seen them. Forest Whitaker returns as Saw Gerrera from Rogue One in a time period before that of the film. Also, one of the game's missions takes place on the Wookiee home world of Kashyyyk. The game will be released November 15 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and is already available for preorder.

Fallen Order Will Start Two Months Early

The Source: Marvel's comic book arm

Probability of Accuracy: It's 100 percent on target.

The Real Deal: As if to prove that Fallen Order is, indeed, in canon, Marvel Entertainment has announced a Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order comic book series by Matthew Rosenberg and Paolo Villanelli. The series, which launches in September—two months before the game's release—will introduce characters from the game, centering around Jedi Master Eno Cordova and his Padawan Cere Junda as they get sent on a simple mission which turns out not to be so simple after all. "Having the chance to introduce audiences to some of the game's cast, and explore a bit of who they are and how they got where they are is really fun," Rosenberg told StarWars.com. "Cere Junda and Eno Cordova are a pair of Jedi that fans are definitely going to want to know more about, and this comic will tell you part of their story you won't get anywhere else."

Finally, the Whole Saga in One Place—a Lego Place

The Source: An official announcement from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and friends

Probability of Accuracy: Entirely true and, as a fan of the Lego Star Wars games, entirely awesome.

The Real Deal: Fallen Order wasn't the only Star Wars game talked about at E3, though. In a surprise announcement, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games, the LEGO Group, and Lucasfilm announced Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, a new game that will span the entire nine-movie storyline with hundreds of playable characters. "Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga marks our return to the franchise that kicked off the Lego videogame series. The game will give fans an all-new LEGO Star Wars experience with complete freedom to explore the Lego Star Wars galaxy," Tom Stone, managing director of TT Games, said in a statement. The game will be released for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC in 2020.