Granted, the success of a movie trailer doesn’t always equate to success at the box office. Notwithstanding, the trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is certainly giving Disney and Lucasfilm something to smile about. Record views seem to indicate a huge interest in the film. To some extent, they can thank Rian Johnson for that.
According to Movie Web, the Star Wars: Episode IX trailer garnered over 110 million views in the first twenty-four hours alone. Those numbers obliterate the views for The Force Awakens and top those for The Last Jedi by over 20 million. While there are many factors that account for fan interest in the film, Rian Johnson just may be the biggest.
Rian Johnson to thank for interest in Episode IX?
The Last Jedi divided the fan base, certainly. Whether Russian Internet bots/trolls played a part in that, I can’t say. Regardless, that division was not an even one. Far more fans, from what we’ve seen, did not care for Episode VIII or the way in which Rian Johnson treated the franchise. Despite threats of boycotts to the contrary, fans are now clamoring to see what will happen in Episode IX.
A tease of the Emperor’s return, of course, has peaked many fans’ curiosity. But the biggest draw from those I’ve spoken with is how J.J. Abrams will handle the film in the wake of Rian Johnson and the Last Jedi. Will Abrams “fix” what many perceived Johnson to have broken with The Last Jedi?
Hundreds of millions of people tuned in to watch the Episode IX trailer. Hundreds of millions more will go to theaters this December. The curiosity to see how the Skywalker saga ends, and how it will deal with what Rian Johnson did in Episode VIII, is just too great. So… in the grand scheme, Johnson and his controversial take on Star Wars may be a benefit to the franchise, after all.
Source for trailer view numbers: Movie Web
For the love of God can we get over our misplaced hatred of the last Jedi and how it “ruined” the franchise because it didn’t do what fans wanted it to do? Yes, it was lumpy. Yes, it had some issues. But I loved it, I thought it did fresh, bold and dangerous things that were entirely consistent with the classic mythos Star Wars. Empire Strikes Back took a strong left turn from the original Star Wars, too, and some fans didn’t love that either. The Last Jedi, flawed though it be, was excellent and so will this next one be, methinks.
“things that were entirely consistent with the classic mythos Star Wars”
Yeah like the super intelligent move of hyperspacing into another spaceship… Which still makes no sense in-universe, of course
Plus imo the terrible “humor” killed it
Are you fucking stupid?? Rian Johnson doesn’t have shit to do with episode 9, that’s why everyone is able to even begin to takr interest in it. You idiot.
Steve: Just a little advice – when you hide behind the anonymity of the Internet to attack someone, you might want to at least spell-check first. That being said – many are interested to The Rise of Skywalker because they want to see if and/or how J.J. Abrams will address what Rian Johnson did with ‘The Last Jedi’. We appreciate your interest in the article, though!
Dear Steve,
That was the point of the article. It asks, “If Rian Johnson did not make a movie about destroying everything unique to Star Wars, would we be as interested in what J.J. is trying to do?”
Not Steve gets it….