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'Star Wars' writer Chris Terrio says he's never re-written a movie as much as 'Rise of Skywalker'

John Boyega is Finn, Daisy Ridley is Rey, Anthony Daniels is C-3PO and Oscar Isaac is Poe Dameron in this still from <i>Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker</i>. (2019 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™, All Rights Reserved.)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney)

Screenwriter Chris Terrio has revealed the extent of the re-writes of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

The writer of movies like Argo, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League also explained how the revisions were going on as filming was taking place.

Read more: Rise of Skywalker concept art revealed

It comes from new book The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, just released by Lucasfilm (via Business Insider).

“I’ve never rewritten a film as much as this one,” he reveals in the book.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, DECEMBER 18, 2019: Chris Terrio attends the "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" European Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square in London.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Gary Mitchell / Echoes Wire/ Barcroft Media (Photo credit should read Gary Mitchell / Echoes Wire / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Chris Terrio (Credit: Gary Mitchell/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

“It’s like a tide. There’s a new script every morning. But we just keep going at it and going at it, loosely thinking that it’s not good enough. It’s never good enough.”

He goes on: “Luckily, the production team is so good that they can shift and adjust. We’re course-correcting as we go – we’re trying things, and some things don’t work and some things aren’t ambitious enough.

“Some things are overly ambitious. Some things are too dense. Some things are too simple. Some things are too nostalgic. Some things are too out-of-left-field. We’re finding our balance.”

Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) in STAR WARS:  EPISODE IX.
Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney)

The movie was the worst reviewed of any of the instalments in the Star Wars saga, with a lowly Rotten Tomatoes score of 52%, one percentage point lower than Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

Critics and fans took exception to the amount of tacked-on nostalgic moments, which made for a disappointing final chapter in the long-running series for many.

Read more: The stealthy Jim Henson tribute in Rise of Skywalker

Critics also rounded on the movie's script as a weakness, while Radio 4's Front Row called it 'a naked exercise in retrograde nostalgia that is perfectly content with playing the hits but fails to provide anything new or exciting'.

The movie is now available on digital release.