Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker run time confirmed by J.J. Abrams
The final Star Wars film may not be the longest in the series.
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
We have less than a month left before Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters, and director J.J. Abrams is speaking out about the film's length. The ninth film in the saga runs 2 hours and 21 minutes, Abrams told Entertainment Weekly, though he did hedge a bit by saying "I believe."
That's still long enough that fans might want to cut back on their green or blue milk consumption, but it's not quite as long as was originally reported. AMC Theatres had listed a run time of 2 hours and 35 minutes, which would've made it the longest film in the saga. But if Abrams is right, the film will come in second to 2017's Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which runs 2 hours and 32 minutes.
The shortest main-series Star Wars film ever was the first, the 1977 original now known as Star Wars: A New Hope, which managed to set up an entire new universe in just two hours and one minute. But when it comes to bladder-busting films, the Star Wars world has nothing on Marvel. Avengers: Endgame ran 3 hours, 2 minutes.
Abrams also revealed on Good Morning America Monday that one of the film's actors left a script under a hotel room bed, and it was passed on to someone who put it up for sale on eBay.
"Someone at the company said there's a script that looks like it's a legit script that's for sale on eBay," Abrams said. Wondering why you didn't see the entire plot leaked on Reddit, then? Disney apparently monitors those auction sites like space hawks. "They got it back before it sold," Abrams said.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in previews Dec. 19, and officially worldwide on Dec. 20.
Originally published Nov. 25, 11:58 a.m. PT.