Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker writer Chris Terrio Speaks About Film’s Many Rewrites

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is one of the most divisive films of the Star Wars Saga. For many, it was a perfect return to the hope and nostalgia of the original trilogy, for others, it was merely 2 hours and 20 Minutes of fan service. One of the main gripes fans have with the final installment of the Skywalker Saga is the way it felt rushed and haphazardly pieced together.

Comments by writer Chris Terrio in the recently released The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker speak directly to these concerns. Terrio stated that he has “never rewritten a film as much as this one.” Describing it as a tide for its lack of predictability. Terrio also spoke to the pressure this film was under as the final conclusion to years worth of stories that fans held so close to their hearts, stating that they felt like “it (was) not good enough. It’s never good enough,” but that the most important thing was “finding a balance.”

The exact date or time that Terrio made these comments is unknown (it’s assumed to be sometime during production of the film), but he does seem to concisely sum up the disappointment fans had been feeling around this divisive finale.

While fans may disagree on the brilliance (or lack of it) in The Rise of Skywalker, the quest for balance that Terrio speaks to in his recent comments should be nothing new to fans of the Saga and for that, the writers (both Terrio, and Lawrence Kasdan) should be commended nonetheless.

“I’ve never rewritten a film as much as this one. It’s like a tide. There’s a new script every morning. But we just keep going at it and going at it, loosely thinking that it’s not good enough. It’s never good enough…Luckily, the production team is so good that they can shift and adjust. We’re course-correcting as we go – we’re trying things, and some things don’t work and some things aren’t ambitious enough. Some things are overly ambitious. Some things are too dense. Some things are too simple. Some things are too nostalgic. Some things are too out-of-left-field. We’re finding our balance.“

Chris Terrio in The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker