Star Wars: Rian Johnson Changed Kylo Ren's 'The Last Jedi' Ship After Toy Manufacturing Error

For young fans, Star Wars toys are often a first introduction to the saga, as some of the more [...]

For young fans, Star Wars toys are often a first introduction to the saga, as some of the more intense themes can be overwhelming for children. Knowing how important accuracy between a toy and on-screen action is for a fan, The Last Jedi writer/director changed the look of Kylo Ren's ship to make it more accurate to a toy that was erroneously manufactured.

The new film debuts audiences' first look at Kylo's piloting abilities, using his TIE Silencer to attack the Resistance.

"Initially, the plan was to have missiles on the underside, and shoot them off, and that was it," Mike Mulholland, VFX Supervisor for Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) London explained at the VFX Festival. "But halfway through production Rian got a toy, a prototype toy of the Kylo fighter. And they had the missiles on the side wings! So we went and redesigned a bit of it [in the movie] so that we could open it up and pop them out.

Mulholland joked, "I've heard of the toys' influence in the past, but that was the first time for me."

In this instance, Johnson was willing to make a correction to ensure continuity. Unfortunately, Mulholland revealed another anecdote regarding an incident where the filmmaker wasn't able to shoot certain sequences the way he had hoped.

"In early conversations with Rian and his producer Ram [Bergman], the question was, 'How much can we do practically for the space battles?'" Mulholland recalled. "To get it kind of feeling like the original trilogy. That was investigated and discussed. It was a kind of an exercise in working out who could do it practically, who's actually got the knowledge, the know-how and the time to do it, and how much it would cost."

Johnson had to come to grips with the fact that films aren't made the way George Lucas made them 40 years ago because of all the complications with special effects.

"The quick answer is, it's quicker and easier and more flexible to do it in CG," Mulholland confessed. "So we were tackling it that way."

You can see Kylo's ship in The Last Jedi, in theaters now.

[H/T Radio Times]

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