New Deleted Scene Info and Images from STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Lucasfilm has released some new details and photos from a few deleted scenes from Star Wars: The Force Awakens that are definitely worth checking out. We know not everything that J.J. Abrams shot for the film ended up in the final cut of the movie, but we'll get to see some of that stuff in the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray release. In a recent interview with EW Abrams said:
“There are so many things that end up getting cut because of the greater good, because of the rhythm of the sequence or the need to get on with it, a sense of redundancy. You don’t know any of these things when you’re making the movie, of course. It was sometimes after months of working on something that you realize finally — you just don’t need it.”
Below you'll find a collection of photos, each one comes along with a description of the deleted scene that was provided by EW. There are a few images that aren't new, but they are used to add a visual to the scene description:
In one of the deleted scenes planned for early in the movie, John Boyega’s FN-2187 hasn’t yet fled from the First Order, but he’s already a lost person. This shot is from before the troopers round up the villagers but after his mask is marked with the blood of a fallen fellow soldier. The conscience-stricken Finn comes face-to-face with a woman in the shadows of a small building. He raises his weapon ... and makes a fateful decision.
When the First Order attacks the castle run by Lupita Nyong’o’s Maz Kanata, Han, Finn, and Chewie face down this squad of stormtroopers in her basement. Han does his usual stellar job talking his way out of trouble.
In this deleted scene, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) leads a squad of stormtroopers to the crash-site of the Millennium Falcon on the surface of Starkiller Base. Inspecting the abandoned starship stirs bittersweet memories for the Dark Side acolyte, who is still battling the pull to the light side ... and now knows his estranged father is conspiring against him.
Abrams says, “You never go into a day of shooting and say, 'This is probably going to be on the cutting room floor,' Every day feels as essential as anything else. It’s always annoying to realize that you wasted anyone’s time on shooting something that wasn’t necessary."
Another deleted sequence would have introduced Carrie Fisher's General Leia much earlier in the film as she weighs what to do after the First Order's massacre on Jakku. Emun Elliott, also gets a moment to shine as the Resistance communications officer Major Brance, who receives an early distress signal from BB-8 informing them of the attack.
Oscar Isaac also makes an appearance in a deleted sequence called "X-Wings Prepare for Lightspeed," which features his hotshot pilot Poe Dameron leading a squadron of Resistance fighters into an assault on Starkiller base. Most of the aerial battles in The Force Awakens took place within the atmosphere of planets, and this would have provided a moment when we get to see a large group of starships actually among the stars.
Another deleted scene will take place after John Boyega's Finn is injured in this lightsaber duel against Kylo Ren. It features Daisy Ridley's Rey back at the Resistance base, watching over her critically wounded friend as she gets an update on his condition from Dr. Kalonia.