The Last Jedi remaisn highly divisive.
It was a huge box office and critical success but split fans with a vocal hardcore group denouncing Johnson’s treatment of the franchise.
In a new French interview, Ridley revealed how much Johnson changed from the original vision laid out by The Force Awakens director Abrams.
This is one of the things that has most frustrated the dissenters who can’t understand how such a long-standing and continuous storyline suddenly has a final three-movie act without an apparent clear arc and subject to change as each new director takes over.
Ridley discussed the shifting story plans in GEEK le mag (translation by Mica).
She said “Here’s what I think I know. JJ (Abrams) wrote Episode VII, as well as drafts for VIII and IX.
“Then Rian Johnson arrived and wrote The Last Jedi entirely. I believe there was some sort of general consensus on the main lines of the trilogy, but apart from that, every director writes and realises his film in his own way.
“Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams met to discuss all of this, although Episode VIII is still his very own work. I believe Rian didn’t keep anything from the first draft of Episode VIII.”
Fans primarily suspect that the biggest changes from Episodes 7 to 8 concern the contentious identity of Rey’s parents and the puzzling decision to set up Snoke as a major villan and then dismiss him without ever exploring who he is.
Whether Abrams will atempt to return to any of his original concepts when he directs the final movie remains unclear.
Ridley was quick to stress how much she trusted Johnson’s interpretation of her character’s path.
Ridley added: “We sometimes hear that actors from a blockbuster do not have the opportunity to express their opinions, thankfully this never has been my case regarding Star Wars. Every time I wanted to share my point of view concerning a scene or an idea about a the script, people took their time to listen to what I had to say and a real conversation started.
“That being said, I am aware that I’m not a screenwriter nor a director, and when I find myself in front of Rian who tells me that it would be better to proceed like this or like this, I am always the first to say “Of course, you are right! No wonder you were given the job !“