Episode IX Official News Timeline – Last Updated November 25

After a long wait, filming for the still unnamed Episode IX is finally here. While filming gets underway, more news is going to leak with each passing day. We understand that not everyone has time to read through every article, or go back and search for old information when they need it. That’s why the entire staff of Scavenger’s Holocron is working on putting together a neat timeline of events. When a piece of news drops, we’ll update it here first so you can quickly see what everyone’s tweeting about. After we finish writing up the applicable article, if there is one, we’ll link it back here too so you can read it at your convenience. You’ll never have to feel out of the loop again.

Sound good? Great! Then let’s get started!

If you’re looking for more spoilers, leaks and rumors surrounding Episode IX, make sure to check out our timeline by clicking here!

November 25 – Check out a 30 second clip from the film of the speeder chase scene by clicking here

November 25 – The official runtime will be 141 minutes

November 20 – EW reveals eight new photos from Episode IX, as well as a first look at the exclusive EW cover where Kylo Ren stands among the Resistance heroes and his scars look less pronounced.

November 20 – The cast discusses the finale of the Skywalker saga in the EW video seen here

November 20 – Oscar Isaac teases the “deep, deep connection” between Poe and Finn in this video interview.

November 20 – The “Reylo” aspect of Kylo Ren and Rey’s “relationship” is addressed by Adam Driver here and by Daisy Ridley in this video interview and also in this article here.

November 20 – A still of Rey and Kylo Ren facing down on Kimji from the new TV spot footage.

November 19 – Adam Driver discusses Episode IX on The Late Show.

November 13 – According to John Boyega, he was “adamant” that Finn get more involvement with Episode IX, although we’ll see how that plays out on screen.

November 11 – In an interview, Oscar Isaac teases further development of the Jedi and the Sith. “What’s amazing about the story and the script is that you learn that both the Sith and the Jedi have been playing a very long game. From the get-go, there’s been this chess match. All these pieces have been played. And now we get to see who gets checkmate.”

November 11 – Daisy Ridley talks a little bit more about Dark Rey in this interview:

Our sister publication Total Film met with Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey, the day after the trailer premiered and asked the actress about the character’s turn. “It’s fucking awesome,” she said. “I already had an amazing emotional story. But, when [Darth Rey] was pitched, I was like, ‘That sounds amazing.’ It’s fun to do something a bit different.”

Asked whether people be shocked by Rey’s arc in The Rise of Skywalker, she replied: “The whole of Star Wars is about good and evil. With every character, you see some struggle. So, in a way, no. Because it’s the most human thing to see someone struggle with two things within them that are pulling them both ways. If you understand why someone is going on the journey, you will be on the journey regardless. So, hopefully, you’re shocked in a fun way, but you’re also emotionally with her.”

Total Film also met Ridley in London a few months, with the actress elaborating on playing a character who deals with both the light and dark sides of the Force. “[It’s fun] because you get to do all of the human emotions rather than just, ‘I am all baddie. I am all goodie.’ With the dark Rey stuff – who knows what’s happening there. But that, in particular, was fun. Because even though I’m exploring the light and dark of Rey, there’s a different vibe, she still looks like Rey.”

November 11 – In an interview, JJ says, “On this one, I let myself be, at least in the way I was approaching the thing, freer. In Episode 7, I was adhering to a kind of approach that felt right for Star Wars in my head. It was about finding a visual language, like shooting on locations and doing practical things as much as possible. And we continue that in Episode 9, but I also found myself doing things that I’m not sure I would have been as daring to do on Episode 7.”

“Rian helped remind me that that’s why we’re on these movies – not to just do something that you’ve seen before. I won’t say that I felt constrained or limited on 7, but I found myself wanting to do something that felt more consistent with the original trilogy than not. And on 9, I found myself feeling like I’m just gonna go for it a bit more.”

October 29 – During an interview with Marie Claire, Daisy Ridley talks about filming a six day fight sequence and what it was like working with Carrie Fisher.

October 21 – The trailer will be shown tonight on ESPN during halftime on Monday Night Football, or you can watch it on Youtube by clicking here.

October 2 – Writer Chris Terrio talks about the two questions that fuel Episode IX:

“One of them is a simple one: ‘Who is Rey?’,” he says. “Which is a question that people not only wonder about quite literally, but wonder about in the spiritual sense. How can Rey become the spiritual heir to the Jedi? We kept coming back to ‘Who is Rey?’, and how can we give the most satisfying answer to that not only factually – because obviously people are interested in whether there’s more to be learned of Rey’s story – but more importantly who is she as a character? How will she find the courage and will and inner strength and power to carry on what she’s inherited?”

He continues: “The second one is, ‘How strong is the Force?’ It sounds a little simple, but actually when you get down to it, that is a sort of Zen Koan that we would really meditate on – not literally in yoga poses or anything, but like we would discuss, ‘What is the Force and how strong is the Force?’ Those two things were really important.”

September 30 – JJ seems to confirm the rumors comparing Kylo’s mask to Japanese pottery, saying, “Having him be masked, but also fractured, is a very intentional thing. Like that Classic Japanese process of taking ceramics and repairing them, and how the breaks in a way define the beauty of the piece as well as the original itself. As fractured as Ren is, the mask becomes a visual representation of that. There’s something about this that tells his history. His mask ultimately doesn’t hide him and his behavior is revealed.”

September 29 – Empire Magazine released a new still of Kylo Ren in their latest article, teasing the development of Rey and Kylo Ren’s “complicated relationship” in Episode IX

September 27 – Empire unveils the new covers for The Rise of Skywalker, which is set to hit stands on Thursday, October 3

September 25 – If you’re interested in the new Star Wars merchandise releases, tune into Youtube.com/StarWars on Thursday, September 26 at 11 AM PT/2 PM ET for a special livestream based out of Pinewood Studios, where part of Episode IX was filmed. The cast will be both live and have prerecorded videos shown presenting the new Star Wars merchandise that will be available on Triple Force Friday, October 4th.

September 23 – Catch the first TV spot for Episode IX by clicking here. It doesn’t include any new footage from what has already been shown.

September 2 – The New York Times put out an article detailing some of the more commonly known details about The Rise of Skywalker, including a new shot of the Resistance featuring Rey, Finn, Poe, BB-8, Chewbacca and C-3PO.

August 29 – In a brief interview with MTV News at the D23 Expo, JJ won’t specifically say that Palpatine is the new “big bad” but that he is part of the story and on the poster for a reason. When asked specifically about redemption for Kylo Ren, JJ said that he wouldn’t talk about redemption directly, but he did describe Adam Driver’s performance as “mindblowing,” saying he brought a whole other level to his performance. He also mentioned that he had the ending figured out early on in the process, and it isn’t really the last shot that he thinks people are going to like, but the last sequence as a whole.

August 26 – The D-23 footage that everyone has been talking about featuring “the sight of” Dark Side Rey was posted on Good Morning America this morning.

August 26 – Someone posted every single screencap from The Rise of Skywalker D-23 trailer. It’s a lot to go through, but worth it if you’re looking for a specific shot. There’s also another imgur gallery of the highlights here.

August 26 – This Twitter user noticed that Rey is wearing a ring with some kind of black stone in it in the D-23 trailer.

August 26 – During an interview, when asked if Stormpilot or Reylo fans would be happier after the film, Daisy answers, “both,” although she elaborates further into how Oscar and John were there interacting with fans and Adam was not, so it seems more like she dodged the question.

August 26 – During recent interviews, Anthony Daniels says that C-3PO is “front and center” for a lot of the film, whereas JJ commented that TLJ didn’t really derail anything that he was trying to set up in TFA.

August 25 – Star Wars official website said, “…and of course the vision of a Rey with a reticulated red blade…” in an article about the footage, prompting further speculation that that Rey is simply a vision Rey sees and that she doesn’t actually turn to the dark side.

UPDATE: They have now changed the wording of the article to read, “the sight of Rey”

August 25 – We’re not going to rehash everything that was shown in the footage, as it looks like it’s going to be released on Monday, August 26th, but it does feature hundreds of Star Destroyers preparing for battle, Rey tossing her lightsaber and summoning it back to her, Rey and Kylo fighting on a turbulent ocean planet, and a look at dark side Rey, overshadowed by Palpatine saying, “Now your journey nears its end” with Darth Vader’s breathing following after. We also see C-3PO with red eyes.

August 25 – During an interview at the D-23 expo, we learn that Zorri and Poe were once friends and have some history, which is probably how she gets pulled into the story, although Keri Russell describes her character as a “criminal” and says she has a checkered past. Oscar Isaac describes their relationship as “complicated,” but says it’s interesting to see how this war affects people who are not aligned with the First Order or the Resistance.

August 25 – Star Wars posts an official look at the Jet Trooper from the D-23 Expo.

August 25 – John Boyega describes Rey as wearing a “red jacket” despite footage of her wearing black robes in the shot.

August 24 – Kathleen Kennedy says that D-0 was kind of rescued by BB-8 and now they’re best friends.

August 24 – During an interview with Good Morning America regarding Kylo and Rey’s relationship, JJ describes it as “desperate,” Daisy describes it as, “connected” and Kathleen Kennedy describes it as “very very complicated.”

August 24 – While John Boyega warns fans not to “look too much into it” regarding dark side Rey, KMT says that the most important thing to take away from it is that the ending is going to be “really groundbreaking in a good way.”

August 24 – Daisy Ridley describes Episode IX as inspired and unexpected, whereas Kelly Marie Tran describes it as really, really long although she admits she hasn’t seen it

August 24 – At D-23, The Rise of Skywalker poster was officially unveiled.

August 24 – The timeline of galactic events shown at D-23 ends 13 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, leading some to speculate that there may be a time jump at the end of the film

August 24 – During his talk at D-23, John Williams says that he has written 100 minutes for Episode IX, and is returning to LA to write the remaining 40.

August 23 – At D-23, we got our first look at new shots from The Rise of Skywalker, featuring clips on the trio together on the Falcon and in the desert, a shot of Kylo taking Darth Vader’s helmet out of a drawer, and an exchange between Rey and Finn where she says, “It’s too dangerous. I’ve got to go alone,” although they end up all going together anyway. For a still frame shot of the scenes, click here, for the actual footage, click here. We also got another glimpse of Kylo Ren’s cracked helmet in a D-23 banner promotion for Episode IX, although it might be just a loose artist’s rendition of what it looks like in the film.

August 23 – D-23 gives us another look at the red Sith Trooper with the placard that was pulled at SDCC as well as the First Order Jet Trooper, which are described to have “agile rocket packs.”

August 23 – According to the official Star Wars website, the novel Age of Resistance will explore more of Poe Dameron and General Hux’s back stories, which comes out August 28th.

August 23 – Anthony Daniels reveals on Twitter that he will be at D-23 to discuss C-3PO in Episode IX

August 11 – John Williams’ brother Don recently said that John had “135 minutes worth of music to write, so that kind of tells you how long the film is.” He also mentioned that pretty much every major theme that we’ve heard across the Skywalker Saga will be compiled into the soundtrack, which probably includes popular favorites like Duel of the Fates and Padme’s Ruminations.

August 1 – Film buffs out there might be interested in knowing that certain scenes for The Rise of Skywalker were filmed in 65mm, which generally means better resolution and more detail

July 28 – Issue #193 of the Star Wars Insider magazine will feature an exclusive The Rise of Skywalker preview when it drops on October 29

July 18 – Star Wars releases a post about the new Sith Troopers exhibit that they revealed at SDCC

July 10 – Lucasfilm has announced that they will be displaying a first look at new trooper armor for The Rise of Skywalker at SDCC 2019 – the red and interestingly named Sith Trooper

July 1 – On the Josh Horowitz podcast, Daisy Ridley says that they’ve done a “great job” with all the relationships. She says, “I just think they’ve just done a great job with all the different relationships, like with the fun friendships, and with the sort of strange thing with Rey and Kylo.” She also says that Rey and Kylo have a “great fight.” She was happy with the Vanity Fair picture showing it. She said it had been shot back in November and they had water being thrown at them to convey the effect.

July 1 – In an interview with USA Today, Daisy Ridley says that The Rise of Skywalker is different from the previous two installments “genre-wise” and that it will be clear when the movie comes out. She describes it as a “different drive” and is excited to work with John Boyega again, as well as Oscar Isaac. She says, “To me, it felt like kids going on an adventure.” She also says that JJ addresses the issue of Rey’s parentage. “So at the end of the film, you know what the dealio is.” She also mentioned that she did not personally do the backflip in the trailer because there was a risk of breaking her ankles but there is a bit in the film where we see her upside down and she did 95% of her own stunts. She also addressed The Last Jedi criticism, calling it “fair” and saying that “it’s fair for people to think they were done wrong.”

July 1 – When asked to describe Episode IX in only three words on Twitter, Mark Hamill replied, “My final episode.”

June 28 – In an interview with Vulture, Daisy Ridley says that Episode IX feels like a “nice full stop on the Skywalker series” and can’t imagine playing Rey again in the future when there are “so many characters in the Star Wars world who’ve never been explored.”

June 26 – In an interview with Good Morning America, Daisy Ridley says that she signed on for three movies and “we’ll see” if she ever returns as Rey, but she debunked the rumors and says that she is definitely not going to appear in the next trilogy, as it’s a separate story. She mentioned that playing Ophelia in her new film was the first time she felt like “the lead of a film” which was a bit intimidating, which is odd considering Rey was supposed to be one of the leads of the trilogy. Daisy also says that some parts of “it” were “really moving” although it’s not clear if she was talking about the specifics of wrapping the film, or if elements in the film were what she found moving.

June 21 – Mark Hamill says in an interview that he “hopes” that this is his last Star Wars film, as he found closure after the last one. He says he’s only involved because “of that peculiar aspect of the Star Wars mythology where if you’re a Jedi, you get to come back and make a curtain call as a Force ghost.”

June 20 – Keri Russell says that she felt overwhelmed and cried after reading her version of the script during an interview with the Associated Press. She also told them that JJ is the right person to finish the saga because he cares. “He’s not trying to change it to be something else. He really respects what it is.”

June 19 – The Age of Resistance comics, which might have information that ties into The Rise of Skywalker, debut on September 4th with a story about Rose and Paige before the events of The Last Jedi. Kylo Ren’s introduction into Snoke’s training is released on September 11th, “never before seen moments” between Rey and General Organa before she leaves for Ahch-To is released on September 18th and another Kylo Ren story about him struggling to escape his grandfather’s reputation will be released on September 25th.

May 23 – During an interview, Adam Driver discussed the overall story arc, saying, “An overall arc was very, not vague, the opposite, it was very clear [there was] an end in sight even from the very beginning. The details obviously hadn’t been worked out, but we had talked about the very thing that we’d been working towards with this last one.”

May 22 – Vanity Fair has published their Episode IX spread featuring covers with both Rey and Kylo Ren, offering insight into some new characters in the film, as well as new information about the film itself

May 20 – According to a recent interview, John Williams will be recording the score for Episode IX in June, 2019

May 17 – In the Summer 2019 issue of Empire, JJ answers a few questions about Episode IX but reveals nothing that might be considered a spoiler and deflects most of the questions, being asked if Rey is a Jedi and if Palpatine is really still alive

April 27 – According to the Czech and Polish international Disney sites, Matt Smith is mentioned in the cast listing despite not being officially confirmed to be in the film during the initial cast press release.

April 18 – JJ says in an interview with MTV News that he wasn’t just trying to make his own film, but to conclude all nine films of the Skywalker saga. He says that he met with George Lucas before he even wrote the script, so they’ve really “taken to heart” what’s come before and describes it as more of an opportunity than a challenge. He says he doesn’t want to demystify everything, but it has to tell the story and he’s not looking to “play games with audiences” in terms of Rey’s parentage and he hopes that it’s a satisfying conclusion.

April 13 – In an interview with Good Morning America, Daisy Ridley says that Rey’s relationship with Kylo Ren is explored “in much greater depth”

April 13 – In an interview with Good Morning America, JJ hints that “there is more to the story” regarding Rey’s parentage

April 13 – According to an article in USA Today, John Boyega didn’t know the title until the day before. He thought it was going to be “Hiers to the Force” or something along those lines. He thinks that the Skywalker mention is very “specific” but also mentions that there were changes to the script while they were filming and he’s not in a lot of scenes that involve Rey and Kylo Ren.

April 12 – For a full breakdown of what was discussed at the Star Wars Celebration Episode IX panel, click here for more information.

April 9 – JJ talks about Episode IX and Bad Robot here, but two big snippets are:

  • I had some gut instincts about where the story would have gone. But without getting in the weeds on episode eight, that was a story that Rian wrote and was telling based on seven before we met. So he was taking the thing in another direction. So we also had to respond to Episode VIII. So our movie was not just following what we had started, it was following what we had started and then had been advanced by someone else. So there was that, and, finally, it was resolving nine movies. While there are some threads of larger ideas and some big picture things that had been conceived decades ago and a lot of ideas that Lawrence Kasdan and I had when we were doing Episode VII, the lack of absolute inevitability, the lack of a complete structure for this thing, given the way it was being run was an enormous challenge.
  • “However, to answer your question—truly, finally—now that I’m back, the difference is I feel like we might’ve done it. Like, I actually feel like this crazy challenge that could have been a wildly uncomfortable contortion of ideas, and a kind of shoving-in of answers and Band-Aids and bridges and things that would have felt messy. Strangely, we were sort of relentless and almost unbearably disciplined about the story and forcing ourselves to question and answer some fundamental things that at the beginning, I absolutely had no clue how we would begin to address. I feel like we’ve gotten to a place—without jinxing anything or sounding more confident than I deserve to be—I feel like we’re in a place where we might have something incredibly special. So I feel relief being home, and I feel gratitude that I got to do it. And more than anything, I’m excited about what I think we might have.”

February 15 – Filming for Episode IX has officially wrapped according to JJ’s Twitter post as well as posts from several other cast and crew members

February 3 – Brian Herring announced on Twitter that he was officially done filming with BB-8, while John Boyega RTed that he is still filming

January 29 – Anthony Daniels reveals that it was his last day as C-3PO on set; John Boyega hints he still has “a little more” to film

January 15 – John Boyega shared on his Instagram page a picture of bloody hands. He captioned the photo, “Great day working on set!! The whole team pushed themselves today to achieve something visually crazy! I’ve had many moments of shock on set but not like today and I can’t wait until you know why #FN2187” The mention of his old Stormtrooper designation has led to speculation that Finn will be involved in the beginning of the Stormtrooper uprising that was cut from The Last Jedi.

December 28 – December 28 – Todd Fisher explains that unused footage of Carrie from the last two films will be woven into Episode IX in a way that seems extremely natural, saying, “This is unused, new content that could be woven into the storyline. That’s what’s going to give everybody such a great kick. It’s going to look like it was meant to be. Like it was shot yesterday.”

December 22 – John Boyega “confirms” that Episode IX will take place one year after the events of The Last Jedi  (although John later posted on Twitter that he doesn’t remember saying that in the interview)

December 20 – Prompted by a whirlwind of rumors, Natalie Portman says she has no knowledge of her reprising her role as Padme Amidala for Episode IX

November 28 – Anthony Daniel posts on his Twitter about filming in Pinewood and Wadi Rum

November 19 – Production designer announces that he has finished work on Episode IX on Instagram (although this mostly refers to the design elements and there is still much work to be done!)

October 18 – Mark Hamill announces that he will be appearing in Episode IX on Twitter

October 17 – Oscar Isaac says there is more improvisation in Episode IX than the previous two films

August 28 – Matt Smith appearing in “key role” in Episode IX

August 24 – Dominic Monaghan appearing in Episode IX, character currently unknown

August 20 – Filming is expected to wrap up around February 2019

August 12 – False report that cinematographer Dan Mindel teased part of the set for Episode IX, actually set of John Carter

August 8 – Mark Hamill teases possibly returning to filming on Instagram

August 8 – BB-8 starts filming today, as per Brian Herring

August 5 – JJ reveals they will use TLJ footage of Carrie Fisher in Episode IX as well

August 1 – Filming begins, JJ posts first photo from Episode IX

July 30 – John Boyega reveals new Episode IX haircut for Finn

July 27 – Lucasfilm publishes Episode IX cast list

June 1 – Episode IX working title “Black Diamond” changed to “trIXie”

September 12 – Lucasfilm announces that JJ Abrams will write and direct Episode IX

 

 

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