Despite holding a 93% approval rating amongst critics on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Star Wars: The Last Jedi's audience score is sitting at a meagre 55%. Now, director Rian Johnson has responded to fan backlash against the film.
Speaking with Business Insider, Johnson acknowledged "through my own experience that, first of all, the fans are so passionate, they care so deeply — sometimes they care very violently at me on Twitter... But it's because they care about these things, and it hurts when you're expecting something specific and you don't get it from something that you love. It always hurts, so I don't take it personally if a fan reacts negatively and lashes out on me on Twitter. That's fine. It's my job to be there for that."
Johnson noted that "every fan has a list of stuff they want a Star Wars movie to be and they don't want a Star Wars movie to be. You're going to find very few fans out there whose lists line up."
He continued, "I also know the same way the original movies were personal for Lucas. Lucas never made a Star Wars movie by sitting down and thinking, 'What do the fans want to see?' And I knew if I wrote wondering what the fans would want, as tempting as that is, it wouldn't work, because people would still be shouting at me, 'F— you, you ruined Star Wars,' and I would make a bad movie. And ultimately, that's the one thing nobody wants."
As the film's 93% critical rating shows, the backlash wasn't all bad, with Johnson clarifying that "80-90% of the reaction I've gotten from Twitter has been really lovely...There's been a lot of joy and love from fans. When I talk about the negative stuff, that's not the full picture of the fans at all."
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out now. Read our review of the film here.
Speaking with Business Insider, Johnson acknowledged "through my own experience that, first of all, the fans are so passionate, they care so deeply — sometimes they care very violently at me on Twitter... But it's because they care about these things, and it hurts when you're expecting something specific and you don't get it from something that you love. It always hurts, so I don't take it personally if a fan reacts negatively and lashes out on me on Twitter. That's fine. It's my job to be there for that."
Johnson noted that "every fan has a list of stuff they want a Star Wars movie to be and they don't want a Star Wars movie to be. You're going to find very few fans out there whose lists line up."
He continued, "I also know the same way the original movies were personal for Lucas. Lucas never made a Star Wars movie by sitting down and thinking, 'What do the fans want to see?' And I knew if I wrote wondering what the fans would want, as tempting as that is, it wouldn't work, because people would still be shouting at me, 'F— you, you ruined Star Wars,' and I would make a bad movie. And ultimately, that's the one thing nobody wants."
As the film's 93% critical rating shows, the backlash wasn't all bad, with Johnson clarifying that "80-90% of the reaction I've gotten from Twitter has been really lovely...There's been a lot of joy and love from fans. When I talk about the negative stuff, that's not the full picture of the fans at all."
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out now. Read our review of the film here.