Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s director gives first look at the movie’s opening crawl

Now that Star Wars: The Last Jedi has its name we’re finally being allowed to peer behind the curtain thanks to director Rian Johnson. The director’s Instagram feed gave a quick behind-the-scenes glimpse at the Star Wars 8 editing process – as well as including something that was absent from Star Wars: Rogue One.

Felt so good to drop this into the cut this morning.

A photo posted by @riancjohnson on Jan 24, 2017 at 10:06am PST

So far, so very bog-standard for an editing suite – lots of tablets and confusing editing software, plus R2-D2 keeping guard. But what’s that in the left corner? That’s right, the opening crawl makes a return in The Last Jedi (as if there was any doubt).

For now, only the title in the opening crawl makes an appearance but, boy, is it good to see the title up in lights or, in this case, a monochrome filter.

Are there any other clues? How about the box of tissues just in front of R2? Rian Johnson is no slouch; everything in the shot must be there for a reason. Is he hinting at fans getting weepy over what’s to come in The Last Jedi?

Directed by Rian Johnson and starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Laura Dern, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, and Benicio del Toro, Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in cinemas on December 15, 2017.

Image: Disney/Lucasfilm

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.