Rian Johnson asked JJ Abrams to change the ending to 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'.
Rian Johnson
The 43-year-old filmmaker is the writer and director of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi', the second movie in the 'Star Wars' sequel trilogy, and Rian has revealed how he was able to influence the Abrams-directed hit.
He shared: "The big [favour] was, I asked if R2 could come with Rey, and if BB-8 could stay behind with the Resistance.
"Originally it was BB-8 who went with Rey, which makes sense for the story in a way. But I asked, 'Can you do me this solid and switch the droids?'"
But when Rian first sat down to develop ideas for 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi', Luke Skywalker was his central concern.
He told EW: "Figuring out where his head was at was the very first thing I had to do when writing the movie. I had to crack this. And it had to be something for me that first and foremost made sense. Why did Luke Skywalker go off to this island?"
The moviemaker revealed that the much-anticipated film will be dedicated to explaining why Luke finds himself on the island at the end of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'.
Recalling his thought process behind making the new film, Rian explained: "That was the starting point, and that's what the entire movie explores ... There has to be a good reason that makes sense to him [to run away] - and to some degree makes sense to us."
'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' - which will feature the likes of Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega - is scheduled for release in December 2017.
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