One glance at Hollywood’s crowded calendar will tell you that there are only three short months separating Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Pacific Rim: Uprising. The former is a direct sequel to the third highest-grossing film of all time, while the other is a larger-than-life blockbuster designed to usher in a new generation of Jaeger pilots.
And though they share some thematic similarities – a dogged resistance rising up against an insurmountable foe – the common denominator here is John Boyega.
Poised to reprise his role as Finn (AKA FN-2187), The Last Jedi will send Boyega’s hero off on a “dark mission” involving Canto Bight and, based on the sequel’s show-stopping trailer, infiltrating the First Order while undercover. He’ll be joined by Rose, and we understand Kelly Marie Tran’s Resistance engineer is all set to become the biggest new part of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars sequel. Ahead of the porgs, the fathiers, and even the curious caretakers.
But on a more general note, Metro caught up with John Boyega to discuss Star Wars: The Last Jedi and, in particular, Rian Johnson’s directing style, who seemingly made a point of balancing the old with the new.
The reason why I am very excited for this film is Rian Johnson. The guy has found a way of respecting the old, embracing what was done with JJ, expanding it with new ideas … Star Wars is still expanding. Especially with Rian’s mind and we’ve seen it with Looper the things that have come from his brain.
Boyega then name-dropped the scene on Crait, where a fleet of Resistance ships can be seen hurtling toward a distant battalion of AT-M6s, which stands for All Terrain Megacaliber Six.
To have those two elements together in one film, even visually is ridiculous. You saw those speeders going across the desert plains with the red? That’s Rian. Don’t know what he’s smoking, but it seems to be working.
On December 15th, Lucasfilm will launch the next chapter in the Skywalker saga for all to see, and you can readily expect another round of Star Wars: The Last Jedi promos to arrive between now and then. Meanwhile, Pacific Rim: Uprising is due to deploy into US theaters on March 23rd.
