Yes, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in theaters and that’s all you really need to know. Well, that and the fact that it made a lot of money and has been surprisingly divisive amongst fans. (Maybe.) Now you're all caught up. Let’s just get on with things, shall we?
The Source: The cinemas around the world
Probability of Accuracy: Entirely on point.
The Real Deal: Turns out, a lot of people wanted to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The movie’s opening weekend earned $220 million domestically, making it the second-biggest opening for a movie in box office history—behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens, for those wondering. Internationally, it took in another $230 million, for a worldwide gross of $450 million. With a take like this, no wonder Disney is giving writer-director Rian Johnson an all-new trilogy of his own to play with.
The Source: Online metrics and those who study them
Probability of Accuracy: That’s the question, isn’t it?
The Real Deal: So, did people actually enjoy Star Wars: The Last Jedi? Upon the movie’s release, there was a lot of talk about backlash against the movie because of its surprisingly low audience score for the movie on Rotten Tomatoes. The reactions set off all manner of think pieces about whether or not the movie was somehow disappointing or betraying fans in questioning some of the series’ core concepts… but the truth might be far more banal. An anonymous Facebook user claimed to be using bots to drive down the movie’s score on the site as protest against Disney’s treatment of the franchise, while social media analyst Synthesio released data that suggested that around 70 percent of sentiment shared online about the movie was overwhelmingly positive. So, you know: It’s as popular as any other Star Wars movie, basically.
The Source: The Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson
Probability of Accuracy: In his mind at least, 100 percent.
The Real Deal: So, was the Last Jedi reveal about Rey’s parents a fake-out, or the truth? According to Rian Johnson, the answer is… it depends. “I can’t speak to what they’re going to do. And there’s always, in these movies, a question of ‘a certain point of view,’” he told Entertainment Weekly about the reveal that Rey’s parents were, as she put it, "nobody." He went on, “But for me, in that moment, Kylo believes it’s the truth. I don’t think he’s purely playing chess. I think that’s what he saw when they touched fingers and that’s what he believes. And when he tells her that in that moment, she believes it.” His reason for deciding to go down this path, he explained, was to make things more difficult for the characters. “The easiest thing for Rey and the audience to hear is, Oh yeah, you’re so-and-so’s daughter. That would be wish fulfillment and instantly hand her a place in this story on a silver platter. The hardest thing for her is to hear she’s not going to get that easy answer. Not only that, but Kylo is going to use the fact that you don’t get that answer to try and weaken you so you have to lean on him… You’re going to have to find the strength to stand on your own two feet and define yourself in this story.” Now, will J.J. Abrams agree when it gets to Episode IX? That's still a mystery.
The Source: Of all places, last year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Probability of Accuracy: Surprisingly good.
The Real Deal: Proof positive that there’s some benefit to developing movies simultaneously came this weekend, when fans realized that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has a throwaway reference to an important plot point in The Last Jedi. While scanning the Empire’s database to find the Death Star plans towards the end of the earlier movie, Jyn Erso mentions a number of projects in the works—including “hyperspace tracking, navigational systems,” which of course the method used by the First Order to track the Resistance in the new movie. Apparently, the bad guys had been working on this stuff for a long time. Just imagine what Finn and Rose would've been able to pull off of Jyn had stolen a few more plans.
The Source: Fan investigation
Probability of Accuracy: It certainly seems legit…
The Real Deal: And now that everyone is thinking about 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX, it’s apparently time to reveal the movie’s working title. Fan site Fantha Tracks reported last week that the movie will be shot under the name Black Diamond, with the production company set up to keep things under wraps being called Carbonado Industries (UK) Ltd.—"carbonado" being the proper name for black diamonds. Production on the movie starts early next year, with J.J. Abrams at the helm once again.
