JOHN BOYEGA Confesses “STAR WARS: RISE OF SKYWALKER” Script Briefly LISTED on EBAY Was HIS

Nowadays, film studios try to go out of their way in order to keep secrets and spoilers for their upcoming movies under wraps. This is doubly so for productions involving multi-film franchises. Disney now has plenty experience with this regarding Marvel Studios’ MCU and Lucasfilms’ “Star Wars” movies. Barring very special instances such as intentional leaks, the House of Mouse tries to run a tight ship regarding plot information. But sometimes stuff slips through the cracks, like a script for Episode IX of “Star Wars” briefly ending up in the online marketplace before being re-secured.

As The Verge tells it, a copy of the script for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” briefly went on sale at eBay and came nearly close to spoiling the film for the internet. The news was first mentioned by the movie’s director J.J. Abrams. He mentioned an actor, whose identity he did not give away, that left his script copy under his bed, which was found by a housekeeper and given to another person who listed the item on eBay, priced at a measly $85. Thankfully a Disney employee noticed the script being offered and bought it before anyone else was wise to it.

In comparison the secret of which “Star Wars” sequel trilogy cast member had been careless with his script did not last long either. The unwitting culprit appeared Wednesday on morning talk show “Good Morning America” to confess to his oversight: British actor John Boyega who plays Finn, the First Order Stormtrooper who deserted and joined General Leia’s Resistance. The reason he even lost track of the script was a combination of fuss due to preparations for moving to another apartment, followed by having forgotten the important item due to partying with his friends on the eve before his address move.

OMG! @johnboyega admits it was HIS @starwars #TheRiseOfSkywalker script that was put on eBay! But he swears it was an accident! 🙈 https://t.co/i9rZzYNwW0 pic.twitter.com/RNCKWCscpl

— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 27, 2019

This incident actually took place a few weeks ago, with the presence of the lost “Rise of Skywalker” script on eBay happening only recently. Only a constantly watchful Disney staffer saved the final installment of the nine-movie main “Star Wars” saga that saved the blockbuster from disaster. Boyega was well aware of what might have happened to him if the leak went public. He did make a joke about how Disney officials contacted him non-stop once his involvement was confirmed, adding, “Even Mickey Mouse called me, ‘What did you do?’”

An example of Disney paranoia in suppressing spoilers could be seen in production of “Avengers: Endgame.” In this case, cast members received only partial scripts per filming day, and even these contained some fake dialogue. The funeral scene at the end was covered up with the actors falsely instructed that the scene was a wedding.

Image from Den of Geek