Everybody wants to know what's going to happen in Star Wars Episode IX. However, Lucasfilm wants to make absolutely sure that we don't find out. To that end, the studio has implemented some significant security measures to be sure the script doesn't get out. Mark Hamill recently discussed what some of these measures are, including making sure somebody stays with the script at all times. According to Hamill...
Nowadays it's like working for some secret deep state government organization, like being in the CIA. They're going to send rewrites over to Prague on this dark red paper that gives you a headache to read. They're going to fly [the rewrites] over with somebody from the company. They're going to come and give it to me and wait for me to read it before I give it back. So no pressure! You can't even keep it overnight. But that's the way it is now.
Some of these security measures have been used before. The dark red paper keeps the script from being copied as photocopiers will read the red paper as black and thus the pages won't come out.
However, at least one of these security measures is new. Mark Hamill reveals to EW that, on previous Star Wars films he was allowed to keep a copy of the script. However, on Episode IX he has not been able to do so. He has apparently seen the most recent version of the script, but he's not allowed to keep it.
While not mentioned, it's likely that Mark Hamill is also only given access to the parts of the script that he needs to see, and the rest is being kept from him, as that is a frequent method of protecting secrets as well.
It makes one wonder just how easy it is to make a movie like Star Wars Episode IX. Having a script to study and learn lines is a pretty basic part of the moviemaking process. However, if everybody had a script there would be more copies around then would be possible to keep track of. It would be much easier for one of them to disappear and end up online.
Apparently, Mark Hamill has yet to film most of his performance for Star Wars Episode IX. Production has been underway for some time, but since Luke Skywalker is apparently dead, odds are Hamill doesn't have a significant role in the new movie, though it's likely bigger than his role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Of course, even these significant security measures don't stop the rumors from coming out, and some of those rumors certainly do prove true, which means that the script info does get out. It will be interesting to see if these extra measures do successfully prevent real information from getting out. The movie has to keep things under wraps for another year, which is certainly going to be difficult to accomplish.
