While both the film and TV worlds may be producing new and inventive content, there is a plague that major properties remain fearful of: spoilers. For blockbusters like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Star Wars franchise, keeping each film's secrets can be an interesting challenge. As such, security for these projects are very tight.
Just ask current Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant, who has a mysterious role in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Episode IX. When doing press about his Academy Award nomination for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Grant revealed the serious security surrounding his Star Wars appearance, saying:
It's extraordinary. They don't give you a script, you have to go to a room where there are bodyguards outside, closed-circuit television cameras, and it's printed on crimson pages so you can't photograph it. You have to read it in there, and then leave.
Scripts obviously hold all the Star Wars plot twists, so the movies can't hand them out all willy nilly. Instead, each actor must go through hoops in order to memorize their dialogue, and properly act in the upcoming threequel.
Richard E. Grant's comments make a great deal of sense, and coincide with prior sentiments about the tight security on Star Wars sets. Episode IX has arguably even more pressure than the previous few installments, as its set to complete the Skywalker Saga begun back with A New Hope. But the actor also seems to be getting a kick out of it all. After all, he calls it extraordinary.
In his same conversation with Digital Spy, Richard E. Grant also described how difficult it was to go to and from the set, giving the myriad paparazzi hoping to get a glimpse of the highly anticipated movie. As he tells it,
They give you a cloak, over your head -- because apparently they have drones going over Pinewood Studios so they try and take photographs of what people are playing.
Richard E. Grant is clearly psyched about his upcoming role in the galaxy far, far away. That said, he seems surprised by the intense security that's been reported since Disney acquired Lucasfilm. But he's experiencing it first hand, and will no doubt spend the months leading up to Episode IX's release dodging questions about spoilers.
The anticipation for Episode IX is arguably bigger than The Last Jedi, merely because the stakes are so much higher. J.J. Abrams is back to finish the trilogy he began with The Force Awakens, but he also has the added pressure of completing the Skywalker Saga forever. This will include another appearance from Mark Hamill, and the use of previous footage to bring Carrie Fisher's Leia back for one more movie.
Episode IX will arrive in theaters on December 20th, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your trips to the movies this year.
