Mark Hamill Confirms Original Opening Scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Another Charity Campaign.
It is wonderful that celebrities have the power to make us aware of causes that need our support and Actor Mark Hamill is doing just that. In an interview with The Sun newspaper to help support charities, the Master Hamster revealed some interesting details regarding the original opening sequence of Star Wars: The Force Awakens…
Actor Mark Hamill had minimal screen time as the Jedi Knight in his return to the sci-fi franchise but that didn’t matter to him because he knew Luke was central to the plot. In an interview with The Sun newspaper, the actor talks about his experience in the ‘The Force Awakens’ and offered up some new previously unknown tidbits of information.
Speaking about reading the script for the first time, after being invited back to play Luke by director J.J. Abrams, he said:
“I read the script on a little iPad with a security man with me so I couldn’t take notes … The first few words in the crawl are ‘Luke Skywalker has vanished’ and I thought, ‘Boy, this is going to be good!’ I thought, ‘Good, I’m going to have one of those 11th-hour entrances.’ I wanted impact. I wanted to affect the storyline.”
The actor also spoke about how someone actually leaked the first 15 minutes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens correctly online.
“One day I read the first 15 minutes of the film absolutely accurately” he said. “I can tell you now that in the original opening shot of 7, the first thing that came into frame was a hand with a lightsaber, a severed hand that enters the atmosphere, and then the hand and bone burns away and goes sticking into the surface of Jakku” he added. “and this alien hand comes in, don’t know if it was Maz but it was an alien hand who takes the light saber way, and then the movie proceeds as you see it.”
The legendary Jedi who is currently shooting the next installment ‘Episode VIII’, admits he was initially uncertain about reprising his role as Luke, 32 years after his last appearance in ‘Return of the Jedi’. However, he knew if he didn’t return as the one-time Tattooine farm boy he would be “hated”, after the rest of the original cast agreed to come back.
“I was scared to come back … and I’d be the most hated man in the world if I didn’t do it.”
During the Interview the actor was asked a question regarding whether Luke Skywalker keeps up his fencing skills for a lightsaber fight? He didn’t confirm nor deny but he did have this to say.
“Well, I am under a non-disclosure agreement . . . but it’s possible.” He said
Hamill can recall watching the completed version of ‘The Force Awakens’ – which also stars newcomers Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn) and Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) – ahead of its release last December and he knew instantly Abrams had captured the spirit of the space opera started by George Lucas.
“The very first time I saw the film was at the premiere in Los Angeles, even though I was invited to see it before that at a little screening room. I would rather see it with a full audience” he said. “I thought it was amazing what they were able to do” he said. “It worked on the level for somebody who had never seen one of those films before” he added. “Everything has changed but nothing has changed”
You can see the entire video interview here:
Now you can also help. Give to Great Ormond Street Hospital!
This charity supports many children’s hospitals to make a difference to kids’ lives.
How to donate? JOIN Sun by donating to Great Ormond Street Hospital – and The Sun and Disney will MATCH every pound. Star Wars: Force for Change is a charity backed by the films’ makers which has raised millions for good causes around the world. And today, on Star Wars Day, it is the turn of London’s world-class hospital for kids. From 1am today until midnight on Sunday, for every pound you give, The Sun and Disney will both give another pound, up to a combined £100,000.
Donate now at gosh.org/thesun/forceforchange or texting MAY4 to 70800
May the Force be with you…
Source: The Sun
It’s always a pleasure to see Mark Hamill. He’s just such a class act!
So it sounds like that was legit about the hand tumbling onto the planet. We heard about this some time before the movie came out and I was hoping it wasn’t true. It just sounded goofy to me, so I’m glad they didn’t include it.
Mark Hamill is the best ambassador any movie franchise could ask for.
Agreed
Just what I was thinking.
Tempted to create a second account, just so I can like this comment twice!
Mind you, he got $2 million for appearing in one scene with no lines, so he probably owes them a little bit! But he’s absolutely brilliant at engaging with the fan base. I’m not on Twitter, but I enjoy reading his twitter feed.
This lovely, lovely man. The promotion tour for episode VIII (so far away!) will be wonderful. 🙂
He’s certainly going to have fun with it.
No link to the video?
I’m wondering if they changed the hand scene because the leaked information or because it was a poor beginning for the new trilogy…
I too wondered the same thing. You have to think that some of the items “leaked” were probably controlled leaks. Things that could easily be changed that have a bit of impact but don’t change the filming or CGI too much.
With all due respect I don’t see why that’s poor. It’s original, it’s new, fresh, unexpected. I am one of those conservative fans who likes the OT vibe in this, but this wouñd have been a great beginning. The hand dissapearing in the atmoshere? That’s so good. We have a Star Destroyer again. Love it, but this is more original to be fair.
for coherence with the past 6 films starting with a starship, I prefer this version of the film beginning. a hand randomly tumbling in space? Hmmmm what the hell?
Yes, my question is how did it get from Cloud City to space floating for 31 years?
I suspect that it wasn’t Luke’s hand at all but someone else’s that was cut off, then ejected (or blasted) into space
but it was implied to be his lightsaber.
His lightsaber but not his hand.
Why would someone else’s hand be holding HIS lightsaber?
The same reason that Maz had it, the same reason that Rey has possession of it, because Luke isn’t the only person allowed to touch it or possess it. It wasn’t (nor was it ever) just HIS lightsaber. The big question would be this: How could it be his hand? His hand (along with the lightsaber) fell DOWN, below Cloud City. Space is ABOVE Cloud City. So unless someone found his lightsaber AND kept his hand attached and then lost it (or flung it) in space…it wasn’t his hand. I know that it COULD be implied that it’s his hand. But if you think about it, that wouldn’t really make sense, now would it?
Also, it could have been similar to the One Ring, betraying its master in pursuit of the true owner – guided by The Force. But I’m sure people would have noticed the similarities, and I am glad they didn’t take that route.
It wouldn’t make sense for someone else’s SEVERED HAND to be gripping Luke’s lightsaber either. That would literally make no sense at all.
Just because you don’t agree with the idea of it being someone else’s hand, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t make sense. You mean to tell me that it makes more sense that Luke’s hand along with the lightsaber found it’s way to space after falling down into the depths of the cloud city structure? I think it is at least just as likely that someone found Luke’s lightsaber, and that somewhere in the 30+ years, someone else got their hand cut off along the way while using it. I never said it was a great idea but bad ideas don’t always equal non-sense.
no
yes
What the hell? The saber is calling the new Skywalker. I find a great idea that once everything seems lost and Rey is staying forever in Jakku, it’s actually Luke’s saber that lands in the planet because of the force. It’s one of those “will of the force” things that I would have accepted.
I meant probably they changed it because it was poor for them.
When i read back then i thought it was weird but now i think could be strange but interesting vision
It would have just been one more thing unexplained. How did lukes hand escape bespin’s gravity? If it wasn’t his hand who found it and why were they flying near jakku and then had their hand cut off to float through space? It sounds like something that they would have put in a book and would have confused audiences. The star destoyer might not be groundbreaking, but it is exciting, classic, and ties directly to the action of the first scene.
It created even more questions. How did it get there?
You’re right.
Well done could be different and interesting for a SW movie.
Since the lightsaber is important, it,’s not weird to keep talking about this for the next movies.
Could be an interesting opening
Maybe Bespin blew up after too much gas mining.
Would actually be more interesting beginning – show Bespin explode/implode, then pick up the saber shooting through space.
Based on various sources (Bloodline, MSW), I’m getting the very distinct impression that the backstory to the ST was changed in multiple important ways by Rian Johnson. I believe those changes relate to the circumstances of Ben’s turn to the dark side, Rey’s background and the fate of the lightsaber. This checks out with the timings, too, since Rian Johnsion’s involvement was confirmed in June 2014, which meant he was brought on early enough to be able to change things about TFA with an view to the future (and we already know that he asked J.J. to include certain things and make changes).
I’m thinking it was changed because it was a pretty bad idea.
Yeah it doesn’t come across as exciting compared to a direct scene linking with the opening action of a film. Besides wouldn’t a lightsaber burn up as well?
I wasn’t so much concerned about that. For all we know, lightsabers are built of materials that could easily withstand atmospheric reentry. But the idea of Luke’s hand someone making out of Bespin’s atmosphere and crossing galactic space to arrive at any other celestial body made very little sense to me…even for science-fiction.
Well, see. in dick-nose’s Star Wars, planets are only a hundred kilometers or so from each other, so no problem!
Clearly they wanted an iconic opening along the lines of A New Hope’s famous “Rebel ship flying across the screen, followed by the Star Destroyer that completely dwarfs it”.
I think a lightsaber with a hand flying through space was a shocking idea and I’m glad they canned it. A lightsaber by itself, maybe – it would make more sense if the weapon found Rey, rather than ended up in Maz’s Castle.
I personally wish the “map” to Luke was the lightsaber itself, sort of like a compass than an actual map. Leia would be pursuing it because she believed that she could use it as a conduit to finding him. It would have streamlined the story and would have removed the silly “a good question for another time” remark by Maz as to how she found the lightsaber. I still don’t exactly understand what that map actually is. It doesn’t make sense why Luke would leave it. Maybe that’s coming, but I have my doubts.
It’s a map to the first jedi temple, not Luke himself. Movie just not clear enough about this.
Like the pick of Mark Hamill in the fedora , he looks like he is channeling Indiana Jones.
I’m severely disappointed this beginning was “canned” —- seeing Luke’s LightSaber floating at the beginning would have been an AMAZING, GASP-INDUCING intro !
No
I’m actually glad they decided to can that intro. it wouldn’t have fit in with any of the previous films we’ve seen to date. Plus, it just doesn’t make sense why his hand would randomly be floating out in space since it was last seen falling to the depths of Cloud City. Every shot after the crawl has involved a ship of some sorts.
I guess, some random alien or guy could have found the hand and saber and then taken it with him only to not be interested and then throw it out of his ship lol
Or the ship holding his hand and saber gets blown up somehow and the hand/saber gets blasted off into some random direction.
I’m glad they removed this from the movie… A hand traveling through space and landing in Jakku without burning through atmospheres? I could see lightsabers getting broken in past just because someone hit them…
It could have messed the whole movie. Thanks for removing it! And now find a good explanation about how Maz found it…
Here is how I see this happening:
Vader cuts off Lukes hand, it falls into the huge shaft on Cloud City, is caught in the exhaust vent, much as Luke was, and blown out into the planet’s atmosphere. ( If you will notice, when Luke hit the weather vane, the camera cuts to something falling into the clouds ). Bespin is a gas giant, with violent storms and updrafts. The hand and sabre could have been ejected into orbit around the planet, somehow disturbed and freefloats into space. Through “the will of the Force” it is guided to Jaku where it was found somehow by Maz.
Scenario 2: Vader or the Emperor actually had the hand and sabre, and it was on board in protected storage onboard the Executor or the Death Star when they exploded. The hand is ejected into space, eventually landing on Jaku.
Scenario 3: The hand and sabre were on board one of the ships that was destroyed in the battle of Jaku, and again the hand is ejected and lands on the planet.
As far as the durability of the lightsabre, it was built by Anakin Skywalker, who was really good at building things. Remember when Luke hit Vader on his shoulder armour and the blade bounced off when it would usually cut through any other substance? I’m sure that sabre would be built to be more durable than others. Remember also that Anakin had his first sabre sliced in half, so he may have made the second one a bit tougher. It could also be possible that the hand around the sabre could have protected it on the way through the atmosphere, burning and carrying the heat away like an ablation shield on the old Apollo spacecrafts.
I want him to be my Grandpa.