The Lucasfilm marketing machine is really beginning to fire on all cylinders.
With little over three weeks until D-day, the Powers That Be have dropped four – count ’em, four – international spots for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and they each show Rey wrangling with her newfound abilities.
Having made contact with the wayward Luke Skywalker on Ahch-To, The Last Jedi is all about Rey gaining a better understanding of the Force – the light side, the dark side, and that all-important balance between the two – though Luke is wary that her unbridled power will lead her down a dark and dangerous road, from which there is no return.
And you can hardly blame him, given he watched Ben Solo (AKA Kylo Ren) reduce his Jedi Academy to ash and rubble all those years ago. Rey is adamant that she won’t succumb to the dark side (“Kylo failed you, I won’t”), but now we’re not so sure. Chalk that up as innocent conjecture for the time being, though, as all four of today’s promos are free of any tangible spoilers.
And now that The Last Jedi is so close, Rian Johnson’s sequel recently came into view for box office analysts, where insiders predicted a huge $200 million opening weekend in North America. Such a debut would ensure Lucasfilm’s Star Wars pic holds the record for 2017’s highest bow on home turf, easily surpassing Beauty and the Beast ($174 million).
The Last Jedi has been penciled in for release on December 15th, but this is merely the start of Rian Johnson’s Star Wars journey. Two weeks ago, Lucasfilm announced that the director would spearhead an entirely new trilogy sometime after the launch of Episode IX in 2019, and it’ll be teeming with new locations and original characters.