Lupita Nyong’o Has Yet to Film Her Maz Kanata Scenes for Episode VIII.
While promoting her latest movie Queen of Katwe, Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o surprisingly revealed that she has yet to film her Maz Kanata scenes for Star Wars: Episode VIII, despite the fact that the movie officially wrapped back in July.
Nyong’o was being interviewed by Collider’s Steve Weintraub during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and in addition to talking about her latest film, the actress made the surprising reveal that she has yet to do any work on Rian Johnson’s sequel to The Force Awakens.
Here is exactly what Lupita said:
Steve: What was it like working with Rian [Johnson]?
Nyong’o: Rian! I haven’t worked with him yet; I’ve yet to shoot. That’s in my future.
This is indeed very surprising. We know for sure that Maz Kanata will appear in Episode VIII. Even back in April director Rian Johnson teased us with the following image:
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) April 4, 2016
My best guess is that Maz Kanata’s role in Episode VIII will not be very big, or at least she won’t have any interactions with the main characters (at least not directly). We know from The Force Awakens that in all scenes with Maz Kanata, Lupita herself interacted with the main characters. It was not just a mo-cap and CG work. Of course this is just a speculation and we have to wait and see what happens.
Aside from Lupita’s commitment to working on another movie, there’s also the possibility that a few crucial scenes could be saved for later filming to keep certain spoiler-ridden details from leaking out. If key Star Wars alumni (such as Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Harrison Ford as Han Solo) were intended to make surprise cameo appearances in the movie, then filming something after principal photography would be the ideal time to discreetly handle those kinds of scenes.
What do you think? Should we draw any conclusions from this story? Tell us in the comments below.
Source: Collider
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Boy, I sure can’t wait for the media to flip out again over the period of planned reshoots that will happen for this movie as a result of Lupita’s commitment to another movie.. Not.
– Pomojema
OMG A MOVIE WITH A HUGE BUDGET IS TAKING THE TIME TO DO EXTRA FILMING
HARAMBE BLESS ME TO BE STRONG THROUGH THIS TORMENT!
It’s gonna be a f%?king sight to behold.
It’s a little strange. If principle shooting has wrapped, then I think it a tad bit strange that she hasn’t shot her scene(s) yet. My guess? Despite what Rian told us, she’s not in the movie or… she’s used as a hologram with a much smaller role than in Force.
More likely they are doing here stuff doing post-production or reshoots.
She was pretty well involved with the actual shoot for Force Awakens. That’s why I don’t think they are going to work her in in post production. Why deviate from the way it was shot originally? Having the actual person there to play off of them is what makes motion capture feel real. It gives actors something to act to. It would be sloppy to go back and insert her in post-production. It doesn’t make sense to me. That’s why I think she’s going to be a hologram or maybe not in it at all.
The thing is that Lupita Nyong’o was busy filming for another movie at the time when Episode VIII was in production. That’s why they waited to film her scenes. She had no such hang-up with the production of The Force Awakens, which is why she was on-set for filming when everyone else was.
– Pomojema
Perhaps. I just think that if they expected to use her in all three films (or however many they intended) they would have signed her so that contractually, she would have no other obligations. Maybe they don’t do that with lesser stars not named Harrison Ford, but I would imagine she would have no “hang ups” working on something like Star Wars for next three years. I don’t think the intend on using her to the same degree as they did in Force Awakens, which more and more leads me to believe she will have a very minimal role in Episode VIII that somehow does not require scenes with other actor, hologram.
Her role wasn’t 5 to 7 mins in TFA.
“Why deviate from the way it was shot originally?”
Because different directors work differently. Because maybe they found a more efficient way of filming. Because maybe schedules aren’t aligning and they can easily do her stuff later. So many reasons.
I thought the same. Probably she teased the photo because she is not in VIII.
The “that’s in my future” it’s strange too.
Really don’t see the need for her to be in this movie, unless she features in another flashback kind of scene. Perhaps showing how she ended up with Luke’s lightsaber.
Exactly, you don’t see the need b/c you don’t know the story.
I don’t see the need because she was a TFA’s minor character.
How do you know that? You don’t know how minor or major she is going to be going forward. We don’t have enough information to say anything like that.
True, but it seems to me her character was simply one of the stops on the journey to unite Rey with Luke, and his lightsaber. As soon as Finn took the lightsaber, she departed the movie.
Moving forward, I can’t think of any reason why she needs to reappear. All the answers Rey is looking for, will be best provided by Luke. Like I said, it would make sense for Maz to appear in some kind of flashback which details how she ended up with Luke’s lightsaber. I think the fact that principle photography has wrapped, and Lupita Nyong’o has not yet filmed any scenes speaks volumes.
It seems that way, but it might be more than that. She is kind of being set up to be the Yoda of this trilogy and maybe she will have some interaction with Luke about something.
“I can’t think of any reason why she needs to reappear.” Just because you can’t (and none of us know the story being told) doesn’t mean Rian Johnson couldn’t.
Lupita was announced by LFL as being part of the cast of Episode VIII. I think that speaks in a louder volume.
We also have the constraints of screen time to consider. Luke will most likely get similar screen time as Han had in TFA. Rey will continue to be the biggest character. That leaves Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren and the smaller characters Hux, Phasma, etc, not to mention the new actors Del Torro, Kelly Tran, Laura Dern, all vying for their share of the story. I’d be extremely surprised if Maz is an active part of the story going forward.
She might only be in one scene, for all we know. But she is confirmed to be in the movie.
Not disputing that she’s in the movie. Just have a strong feeling she’ll not appear in the present time.
We shall see.
how rian divides the screen time in this film between the 50 different characters they have is going to be quite a feat.
Where are people getting she won’t be in the movie? She said:Nyong’o: “Rian! I haven’t worked with him yet; I’ve yet to shoot. That’s in my future.” So it is happening in the future. She prob let the stand-in (They had one for her in TFA too) handle most of the scenes, they will just use her voice for most of her scenes anyway. How long was she in TFA 5 to 7 mins? If that.
i liked her character.. would love to know more about her and her connection with the force. when she presents the skywalker saber to the gang, she says “that’s a story for another time”. hopefully we get to see that on screen!
If my theory is correct, I want to say that her scene will be related to her finding Luke’s lightsaber. On top of that I think it’ll be the beginning of Episode VIII. Crawl, pan to Bespin, show lightsaber being found, someone holds it in a close up and it cuts to Rey holding it in front of Luke where we left off. At least that’s how I would do it. Also where did she even go after her castle got destroyed? I don’t remember her after that. I think she’ll have a bigger role in IX and that they’re focusing on Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo heavily in VIII.
Yeah, the editing doesn’t make it clear what happened to her, because she originally was supposed to accompany Finn and Han back to the resistance base. I’m guessing she just stayed to rebuild the castle using her Force powers.
She has a lakehouse in the woods nearby.
She is actually with Leia and Resistance, it was deleted scene, but it is in novelization. In second TFA teaser there is scene when she gives Leia Luke’s lightsaber at Resistance base,but it is deleted scene now
That’s right. Forgot about that shot from the trailer.
I totally didn’t know she’d be in the movie until now. Makes sense, her house blew up so she’s hanging with the rest of the gang now I guess.
She originally had a scene in The Force Awakens where she hands Leia the lightsaber (an excerpt of which was seen in the second teaser). After that, she was seen going to the Resistance base. They cut that part out because she had nothing to do for the remainder of the movie, but the concept of her joining up with the Resistance is still what happens next based on the novelization.
– Pomojema
I really hope Rian Johnson can pick up the pieces that JJ left all over the place. How about for 1 – letting us know who the F*@% Maz kanata actually is????
I take it you’re not a fan of mystery.
Not when the movie is composed entirely of questions and gives no answers. Thats not mystery. Thats blue-balling an audience eager for a climax.
gross
but its just the first act. we aren’t supposed to get everything up front.
She’s Maz Kanata. you literally don’t have to know anything other than that, lol.
Yeah I loved how they told everything about Han in a New Hope.
I dont know I guess now that there are 6 movies and over 30 years of build up – you expect that things would build on eachother. So when a force sensitive being like Yoda appears out of nowhere – you expect that the filmmakers would answer those immediate questions
They didn’t answer any questions when Yoda himself appeared. All they did was tell you that he was powerful and that he was friends with a main character. Same with Maz.
It would be cool if she shows up in Han Solo movie,since they know each other for a long time
We probably have to read some novels to understand who she is and why she was in possession of the lightsaber.
She is a lady who owns a bar.
But what is her life story? That is apparently more important than the plot.
Yeah, it might not matter to the story they are telling. Or it might. We have to wait.
Amen.
Would love to see Maz, Luke and Rey vs Snoke
I would not like that. I think Luke is more than a match for Snoke by himself. That is why Snoke is trying to blow him up with a superweapon rather than face him in person. I mean really watch the scenes were Snoke just mentions Luke’s name. That dude looks like is ready to shit his pants.
I think he is stronger that Luke, but he is afraid of him,and rise of new Jedi Order, basically like Sauron is afraid of Aragorn,not like Aragorn is stronger than him, but what he can become.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ogwtVdHQJg4/UB5s8WoZXKI/AAAAAAAACG0/hRqV9X4hnAo/s320/star-trek-nodding.gif
I actually really like that explanation.
Not sure he couldn’t take on Old Luke. But He certainly seems aware of the Skywalker bloodline’s ability to use the force.
It just looks that way because he spends all of his scenes sitting on a gigantic potty.
Thanks for that mental image. 😉
I don’t like that character, couldn’t care less if she’s in it or not. I didn’t really think she brought much to the story, just another yoda type character that came out of nowhere.
Hopefully that means she has a small role in the film.
She is the only thing I disliked about TFA.
I don’t understand why a character so knowledgable with the force and obtains Luke’s saber is just a quirky character that runs a bar. Maz brought nothing to the story.
Not to mention the comic book style design. I preferred the concept art of her
What’s the problem of being quirky? Being both quirky and wise is quite a good characterization actually.
Yeah could you imagine if Yoda was introduced in ESB as a goofy little gremlin making jokes and stealing food?!?!? God that would be so quirky and weird for a wise old Jedi master! wait…
Can’t say I disliked the character, but maz is, as Han says, “a bit of an acquired taste”. I love the quirky smuggler-mom concept, but I don’t want her to be a force user or major character. Her TFA screen time was about right for the character to not overstay her welcome, but I’d like to see her again in a small role, which it seems like she must have if she hasn’t recorded yet
With Luke back in the picture, I wonder what role is left for Maz in Episode 8?
She most likely has a brief screen time. Ep VIII is already filled with characters and now that Luke is in the picture, her role is pretty much over.
Maz will at least have to explain how she got the lightsaber. She’s old, when Yoda was born she was ~200 years old already. I think she will have a key role, but not a large one (in screen time).
a hologram?
Because the idea it’s a straight forward scheduling arrangement is duller than summer in Blighty, I’d say they are holding back the scenes to control secrets. Like when Rey finds out Dr Cornelius Evazan was her grandad