Most movie novelizations nowadays don’t hold too much interest for fans, but that’s not true when it comes to Star Wars. The books based on the hit films always feature some intriguing new details and scenes that weren’t depicted on the big screen, helping to flesh out the world and its characters just that little bit more.
The novelization for Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set to continue that trend, too, as writer/director Rian Johnson collaborated with author Jason Fry to create some fresh material for the book. The most significant new scene from what we know so far is Han Solo’s funeral, following on from his death at the hands of his own son, Kylo Ren, in The Force Awakens.
Speaking about the novelization on The Star Wars Show, here’s what Fry had to say about the additional scenes it’ll include:
“Rian Johnson and I had an amazing conversation. We got to write entirely new scenes for the book. Han Solo’s funeral, Rose and Paige Tico together and further explorations of the fascinating world of Canto Bight to name just a few.”
As you may or may not know, before its release, there was a rumour going around that The Last Jedi would show us Han’s funeral on screen. Obviously, though, that didn’t end up happening.
Sure, Harrison Ford’s iconic character was mentioned a few times, but there wasn’t really much time within the narrative to dwell on his loss and instead, it now looks as if the novelization will be paying respect to the great fallen hero. While some may argue that it would have been better to include the funeral in the film itself, we think Johnson and co. made the right decision by leaving it out.
Fans can get their hands on Star Wars: The Last Jedi – The Novelization when it hits store shelves on March 6th (pre-order on Amazon here). As for the movie, it’s still playing in theaters across the globe, with its current box office haul sitting at $1.29 billion.