A new home video release strategy that has become more popular in recent years is to offer fans an "extended cut" of a film, which incorporates deleted and longer scenes into the story. The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson confirms there is roughly 20 minutes of footage that he cut from his film, yet shared that the theatrical cut is the best version of the story.
"The final cut of the movie is the best cut of the movie that we could come up with," Johnson shared during a recent Q&A. "Everything that was taken out, even the stuff that I love so much, was taken out for a reason at the end of the day. For me personally, I?ve enjoyed extended cuts of other stuff, but I don?t think I would ever do one."
Even after having cut footage from the film, The Last Jedi still clocks in as the longest chapter in the entire Star Wars saga.
The filmmaker also teased what took place in some of the film's deleted scenes.
"We have a lot of deleted scenes. We have deleted sequences," Johnson pointed out. "There are two big sequences that are really the kind of hero pieces of it. One is a whole other big thing between Rey and Luke on the island that involves the Caretaker creatures. You see this village where the Caretakers?the Nun Fish creatures?live, and it?s a sequence that I always really loved. It?s a really beautiful sequence."
This sequence is revealed to be a ruse on Luke's part, as he claims the Caretakers are being murdered and Rey runs in to stop it. Luke then reveals that he made it all up and attempted to teach Rey that the Resistance needs her, a hero willing to spring into action, and not someone like himself. This leads to an argument that causes Rey to leave Ahch-To.
