While Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hasn’t exactly been a hit with the critics and has proven divisive among the fans, director J.J. Abrams seems be taking the criticism in stride, explaining at a recent screening that you can’t please everyone, and that even the negative takes are perfectly valid.
After a showing of the Sequel Trilogy finale at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday, Abrams was asked by Vanity Fair’s Anthony Breznican if there was something about the film that the detractors just weren’t getting, to which he responded:
“No, I would say that they’re right. The people who love it more than anything are also right.”
The filmmaker then suggested that he never set out to make a movie that was universally beloved:
“I was asked just seven hours ago in another country, ‘So how do you go about pleasing everyone?’ I was like’ What…?’ Not to say that that’s what anyone should try to do anyway, but how would one go about it? Especially with Star Wars.”
Abrams later acknowledged that any new Star Wars film is inevitably going to be met with some resistance, before doubling down on his stance that all opinions are valid:
“We knew starting this that any decision we made — a design decision, a musical decision, a narrative decision — would please someone and infuriate someone else. And they’re all right.”
Right now, The Rise of Skywalker holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 57% based on 358 reviews, making it the least acclaimed installment in the Skywalker Saga since the Prequel Trilogy. What’s more, the movie’s CinemaScore, based on exit polls from the film’s first night, is graded at B+ – the lowest rating received by any live-action Star Wars flick to date.
Meanwhile, the feature’s early box office figures paint a similarly grim picture, at least by Sequel Trilogy standards. The film’s domestic opening, for instance, was a relatively modest $175.5 million, a figure that pales in comparison to the equivalent numbers for The Force Awakens ($248 million) and The Last Jedi ($220 million).
Nonetheless, if the film’s audience approval rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes is anything to go by, then it’s clear that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has its defenders, and it’ll be interesting to see how word-of-mouth affects the movie’s performance in the coming weeks.