Mark Hamill Discusses 'Episode IX' Secrecy

By: Benjamin Hart

This December feels pretty unusual with the absence of a new a Star Wars film releasing. Star Wars: Episode IX is still a tad more than a year away from being released in theaters, so we have a lengthy wait ahead of us as the film is still in production. So far we've heard next to nothing about the plot, and that likely won't change for a while thanks to the extreme secrecy surrounding the project. In a new interview, Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, spoke about the ways Lucasfilm is currently preventing leaks.

Yes, despite sacrificing his life to save the galaxy one last time in The Last Jedi, Luke will be back in Episode IX, presumably in the form of a blue Force Ghost. Hamill recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly while in Prague on the set of his current project, Knightfall. Mark explained that he has only spent about a week on the set of Episode IX so far and is scheduled to return to Pinewood Studios at a later date to shoot a majority of his scenes. Hamill also made mention of some recent Episode IX script changes that were delivered to him as of late.

As Mark explains, the security measures for scripts have changed drastically since he first began work in a Galaxy far, far away:

“I still have to go over and do [Episode IX]. Most of the parts I have coming up beside Star Wars are voiceover — there’s one big one, very high profile, I can’t announce now, that I’m really excited about. You know how it is these days, every time you sign NDAs. I remember back when I read the first Star Wars [script], I was like, ‘Wow, that’s the goofiest thing I’ve ever read.’ I gave it to my best friend to read, and I said, ‘What do you think of it?’ He said, ‘It’s really wild, it’s crazy, can I give it to Meredith?’ ‘Sure, go ahead.’ It went around to all my friends. Of course back then nobody cared. Nowadays it’s like working for some secret deep state government organization, like being in the CIA. They’re going to send rewrites over to Prague on this dark red paper that gives you a headache to read... 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 can’t even keep it overnight. But that’s the way it is now.”

This actually isn't the first time red paper has been utilized to keep Star Wars scripts under wraps, as the scripts for The Force Awakens were also printed on red paper to prevent them from being copied. It seems J.J. Abrams brought back the technique to help keep the lid on potential spoiler leaks.

Be sure to check out the full interview over at EW!

Star Wars: Episode IX hit theaters on December 20th, 2019.  The film stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Keri Russell, Richard E. Grant, Naomi Ackie, Dominic Monaghan, Anthony Daniels, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, and Carrie Fisher. The film is directed by J.J. Abrams, with a script by Abrams and Chris Terio.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

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