Star Wars marketing for a movie, whilst usually very big, is also quite secretive in nature. Sure, you get the usual toy leaks (an inevitable necessity), but there really was no particular reason why he likes of Palpatine’s return or Dark Side Rey had to be revealed as early as they were for The Rise of Skywalker.
Speaking with Io9 recently, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy was asked why the decision to market these aspects was taken on this final Star Wars sequel trilogy movie.
“I think that is a fair assessment. Because we’re bringing this to a conclusion, many of the characters that are playing a significant role in the story, the fans know. They don’t know how this story is going to unfold, but they know who they are. It’s not like Baby Yoda. [Laughs] We’re not revealing something significant like that. And I think that that is important to this story. We’re not trying to be coy and unnecessarily clever. And we had a lot of conversation about that. We certainly tease Palpatine, but we arrived at a decision pretty early on, right around Celebration, that we were like, “Wait a minute. The fans are going to want that. We need to be somewhat more open than we would normally be because there isn’t something to hide here. There’s actually something to tantalize everybody with. To let speculation be a part of the conversation.” And that’s always been such a great thing about Star Wars, is that the fans get so engaged in that. And we felt that with this story that should be allowed to happen.”
This is something, I personally think was designed around attempting to attract fans back to the movie after the very divisive Episode 8, The Last Jedi, especially the return of Palpatine. Director J.J. Abrams also recently spoke about being a little less mysterious this time round when he spoke with Uproxx.
“But I do feel about this movie, because it is the end of something everyone knows — I don’t want to be coy. I feel very confident about what the movie is,” Abrams said. “And I feel like we’ve found a way to do something that doesn’t need — and I don’t feel the need — to do smoke and mirrors at all on this.”
I guess it’s an all or nothing situation with The Rise of Skywalker, this is after all the end of not just this sequel trilogy but the nine-episode Skywalker Saga. I’m sure there will remain a lot of secrets and surprises that have not been revealed as yet. I’m still not sure bringing back Palpatine was the right move, but I’m prepared to wait and see what they deliver before being too judgmental on that front.
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What do you think of the marketing approach thus far to The Rise of Skywalker, was revealing Palpatine early the right call, or should it have been a surprise left for opening night? Tell us what you think in the usual spot below.
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SOURCE: Io9
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