Big Spoiler Warnings for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Come back later once you've seen the movie!
Some theaters have been taking precautions with Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Certain theaters are amping up their security while others are refusing to show the movie at all. The Last Jedi has proven to be something of a hot-button issue with fans (like every Star Wars movie), and one theater is taking extra care to make sure that they don't get any complaints from angry moviegoers. For one specific sequence in The Last Jedi, there is no sound at all, and an AMC theater is letting everyone know that this is an intentional creative decision... and nothing's wrong with the speakers.
Okay, we're venturing into spoiler territory here, so this is your last chance to look away. Still here? Okay, then. At one point in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Resistance begins its escape plan to elude The First Order fleet that has been chasing them for the majority of the movie. Laura Dern's Vice Admiral Holdo stays behind on the main ship to keep The First Order distracted while The Resistance flees in escape pods, but The First Order begins to shoot them down. To buy time, Holdo steers her ship to face the fleet and in one of the most epic shots in all of Star Wars, activates lightspeed and BLASTS straight through The First Order, cracking Supremacy (Snoke's ship) in half.
The whole sequence is beautiful and there's no sound whatsoever, making the moment really land. It's an effective tool (my screening was in awe), but clearly some moviegoers thought the sound going out was an issue with their theater. Actor Paul Scheer has shared a picture on his Facebook page of a notice posted by an AMC theater, assuring customers that nothing is wrong, and it's choice by director Rian Johnson. The theater even has the exact time code for when the scene happens.
That means that enough people had to have complained about it for AMC to type up a warning. It's a bit ridiculous, considering that the silence lasts for maybe only 10 seconds. Then again, you can't really blame theaters for being cautious when dealing with Star Wars fans. One theater almost had a riot on its hands when a The Last Jedi screening didn't have any sound for 10 minutes.
You can watch this great sequence for yourself in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which is in theaters right now. The New Year is almost upon us, and if you're looking forward to a brand new year of movies, then be sure to check out our 2018 movie release guide.
