#ReleaseTheStatenCut (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Wednesday, July 01, 2020, 17:39 (1613 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Test audiences? For Star Wars? That seems like a risk they would never take…

Abrams has specifically said in interviews they didn't do general audience test screenings for Rise of Skywalker. So unless he's lying…

I’m fuzzy on the details now, but if I remember correctly there was other information that contradicted him (something about the test screenings being done with other Disney and studio employees, while JJ was talking about typical “randos from the public” test screenings... but my memory is fuzzy on all that). Also, he has explicitly lied about his own movies in the past (comberbatch not playing Khan, for example).

Also, I’m pretty sure that quote about no test audiences was included in a laid-for puff piece, and directly responding to the rumours about the test audiences. I find it totally believable that he’d say something like that to save face, given the pressure on him and the crew to deliver a massive hit. They couldn’t afford bad PR.

All that said, it’s totally possible that there were no test screenings. All I know is that the sources who discussed the screenings also disclosed plot details revealed in those supposed screenings, and the plot details turned out to be accurate.