After a multitude of rumors, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker actor Greg Grunberg (who played Snap Wexley in the movie) has come out and shot down rumors of a “J.J. Abrams cut” of the film.
It’s fair to say that, upon release, The Rise of Skywalker wasn’t universally loved by fans, with many accusing it of being rushed, stuffed and riddled with plot holes. So when rumors started to fly that Disney had buried a different cut of the movie, some embraced the idea and managed to get #ReleaseTheJJCut trending on social media.
Reminder to #ReleaseTheJJCut
— ethan (@bonquievious) March 21, 2020
Now, did such a cut ever exist? Probably not, but hopefully the social media activity was at least therapeutic. Now, Grunberg — a good friend of Abrams who has collaborated with him on more than a few occasions, told The Hollywood Reporter that he “would be surprised” if such a cut was real. “I talked to J.J. as friends throughout the entire process,” he said. “Every night, I’d be like, ‘How’s it going?’ Every time, he was so positive. I’m being completely honest here, but not once did he ever tell me that there was any pressure on him to cut things out.”
"Personally, I don’t think there’s any truth to that, and I would be surprised if there’s a ‘J.J. cut.’"
Speaking from his experience of an actor, Grunberg explained that it’s just park of making movies that scenes get cut. “Every movie goes through a series of cuts; it’s just the nature of it,” he said. “You see what works, what you need more of and where you need clarity. So, I think that’s all a part of the creative process. I don’t buy into it at all.”
While we’re on the topic of things getting cut from The Rise of Skywalker, it was revealed that the movie cut a tribute to a tribute to Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. Speaking with Yahoo, Star Wars FX artist Neal Scanlan said that Labyrinth character Ludo was set to make an appearance in a scene on the planet Kijimi with Rey, Finn, and Poe.
"To my knowledge, he didn’t make the movie. He may be in the Kijimi bar momentarily. If he is, some fan might pick up on it, and say, ‘Oh, that looks like Ludo’. And they’d be right! He was envisaged the same way and performed in exactly the same way, because that technology was amazing in its day and still is, in my opinion."
It looks like so much cool stuff got cut from the movie! The J.J. cut may not be real, but I still want to see it.
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