‘Star Wars Episode 9’ Secrecy Is Like Being In The CIA, Says Mark Hamill
It’s no secret that secrets ofStar Warsmust be kept secret, for fear of the secrets secreting and ruining everything (especially the secrets). But the secrecy aroundStar Warshas gotten even more extreme than you might realize. There are criminals in movies that get transferred between prisons that don’t have as much security as the secrets ofStar Wars.
Star Warssaga starMark Hamillhas been around since the beginning of the franchise, and it should come as no surprise that the secrecy surrounding these movies has changed drastically. In a recent interview, Mark Hamill talked about how many people he passed around theStar Warsscript to simply because it was so weird. And now he can’t read it without somebody watching him until he’s done.Entertainment Weeklywas speaking to Mark Hamill about his upcoming projectKnightfall, and conversation briefly turned toStar Warssecrecy since he can’t talk about anything involved with production onStar Wars: Episode 9. Hamill said:
We’ve seen the dark red pages of aStar Warsscript before in this photo from the set ofThe Force Awakens:
So why are the script pages red? If you try to photocopy red script pages like that, they print out black, making it nearly impossible to easily make a quick copy of the script if you stumbled upon it somewhere. That doesn’t stop anyone from taking a high resolution photo with the phones we all carry around in our pockets. But first you’d have to get your hands on a script without someone looking over your shoulder.
Hamill adds that in addition to the difficult to read red pages, someone has to watch him read the script too:
“They’re going to fly [the rewrites] over with somebody from the company. They’re going to come and give it to me and wait for me to read it before I give it back. So no pressure! you may’t even keep it overnight. But that’s the way it is now.”
With J.J. Abrams back behind the camera, and this being the supposed last installment of the Skywalker saga, secrecy is probably more intense than ever. It only makes sense with how quickly information can spread and how easily it can be sent without much afterthrough. And that’s just fine with us, because we’d rather be surprised by what Abrams has in store for us.
Star Wars: Episode 9is expected in theaters onDecember 20, 2019, and hopefully we’ll get a trailer soon.
