Fans have waited a long, long time for the Star Wars finale, and it has taken almost as long for them to be treated to the final trailer for the ninth instalment of the saga.
With the tag line “The saga will end. The story lives forever”, the trailer promises to close off the narrative that began with rural boy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) finding himself caught up in an intergalactic battle in George Lucas’s original, groundbreaking film, A New Hope.
On Monday night US time, though, the trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker launched, with tickets going on sale for the last film in the series that has been running since 1977.
Since A New Hope, the saga has since spanned two original sequels, three prequels, a full “sequel trilogy” and two “anthology” films, or stand-alone films within more or less the same timeline.
The Rise of Skywalker trailer suggests a dramatic ending, because it depicts sweeping shots of battles atop ships on vast raging oceans, characters leaping across canyons in tremendous jungles, teary-eyed close-ups, and of course, lightsabers.
Written, directed and produced by JJ Abrams, The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong’o, alongside original trilogy cast members Mark Hamill, Ian McDiarmid, and Anthony Daniels as the robot C-3PO.
The filmmakers said in May that scenes filmed with original cast member Carrie Fisher, who died in 2016, would be repurposed for The Rise of Skywalker.
The film itself will not hit cinemas until 20 December, but fans have been drip-fed a long run of teasers at least since shooting began last year.
