Via Cnn.com:
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” was one of the biggest blockbusters in history and a huge production feat for director and “Star Wars” fan, Rian Johnson. The film, which was released on 4K Ultra HD Tuesday, also marked the return of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker.
Hamill and Johnson spoke with CNN at the South by Southwest conference earlier this month and talked about Luke’s fate and what it’s like to field criticism from “Star Wars” superfans in the age of social media.
The following conversation — which contains major spoilers about “Last Jedi” — has been edited for length and clarity.
So what was it like to have Disney, this famously tightly run studio, just give you the reins to the biggest brand in movie history?
Rian Johnson: Yeah, it was scary in exactly the way you would think it would be scary because my producer Ram [Bergman] and I came into it, and we’re very used to working within the indie film world and having total control. But the truth is, Disney and Lucasfilm, I mean they were good collaborators, but they really let us do our thing.
“Last Jedi” did receive some criticism online, even in the “Star Wars” community…
Mark Hamill: Fancy that. Criticism online? Unheard of.
Looking back, was any of the criticism fair?
Johnson: No, no.
Hamill: We were happy to ruin people’s childhoods.
Johnson: The thing is though, “no” in terms of, “Oh wow, they’re right, I shouldn’t have done that,” but “fair” in terms of every single “Star Wars” thing that comes out, every fan has stuff they love, stuff they hate about it. Every movie has its lovers and its haters. Every single one going back to the originals.
Hamill: We were so lucky there wasn’t social media when “Empire Strikes Back” came out.
Johnson: Yeah, “Empire” would have gotten roasted. If you look at the criticism of “Last Jedi,” can you imagine what they would have said about Luke just getting his ass handed to him by Vader? Oh my God.
Hamill: Right, the hand getting cut off, we lost and dad Vader.
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