Christmas is quickly approaching and with it, a brand new Star Wars film for fans to sink their teeth into.
Titled The Rise of Skywalker, it’ll be the ninth and final installment in the iconic Skywalker Saga – a story that first got underway all the way back in ’77 with A New Hope.
Fast forward to the 21st century and Lucasfilm is now ready to bring us one final battle between the Resistance and the First Order (essentially the Empire reincarnate), which puts our heroes Rey, Finn and Poe in a bit of a precarious position. And that’s before we even mention that Emperor Palpatine is somehow back in the picture.
Clearly, there’s a ton riding on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and it’s going to need to wrap up a number of storylines while also planting the seeds for whatever comes next. And while it was originally said to have a runtime of 155 minutes, it now appears that that number wasn’t entirely accurate.
Speaking on SiriusXM’s EWLive, director J.J. Abrams explained that the runtime is actually a bit shorter than what was reported, with the film clocking in at 141 minutes. So, not a huge difference, but this means that it won’t be the longest entry in the franchise anymore, with that honor still sitting with The Force Awakens and its 152 minute runtime.
Still, this should give Abrams more than enough room to wrap up the Sequel Trilogy and also bring back several elements from the Original Trilogy – for instance, characters such as the aforementioned Emperor Palpatine and Lando Calrissian. Not to mention that he’ll also be looking to provide a respectful send-off for Carrie Fisher’s Leia.
Will he be able to pull it all off? We’ll find out when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker soars into theaters on December 20th.
