Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opened on December 20, 2019, with J.J. Abrams directing. It grossed $1.077 billion worldwide, the lowest of the sequel trilogy, and scored 51% on Rotten Tomatoes. The two big answers: Rey is Palpatine’s granddaughter, and she takes the name Skywalker in the final scene.
Updated October 11, 2026.
I have watched every film in the Skywalker saga, most of them more than once, and what stands out each time is how much each chapter leans on the one before it. The Rise of Skywalker leans harder than most. Knowing what came before it is the difference between a payoff and a puzzle.
1. Leia, Luke and Palpatine all came back
Carrie Fisher died in 2016, so Leia’s scenes were built from unused footage shot for The Force Awakens. Her daughter, Billie Lourd, plays a young Leia in a short flashback. That flashback also reuses footage from Return of the Jedi, with digital de-aging for Luke and Leia.
Ian McDiarmid returns as a resurrected Emperor Palpatine. Lucasfilm revealed his return in a teaser trailer at Star Wars Celebration in April 2019. Hayden Christensen and James Earl Jones are also heard, as voices of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. Mark Hamill also returns as Luke, appearing as a Force ghost.
2. Matt Smith never appeared in the film
Reports in August 2018 said the Doctor Who actor had been cast in an unnamed role. Disney’s UK site listed him in April 2019, then removed his name the next month. Smith first denied he was involved. Later he said he had been in talks for a “transformative” part that was never made, and he is not in the finished film.
3. The story picks up one year after The Last Jedi
In 2019 the rumor was a nine-year time jump. It was wrong. The film opens a year after the Battle of Crait, where The Last Jedi ended. The trailer had hinted at a short gap, and the trailer was right.
4. Who Rey’s parents are in Rise of Skywalker
Rey learned in The Last Jedi that her parents were nobody. The Rise of Skywalker reversed that. Kylo Ren tells her during their duel that she is Palpatine’s granddaughter, through his son. Her parents hid her on Jakku to protect her, and the Sith assassin Ochi killed them.
The reveal split audiences. It gave Rey a famous bloodline after the previous film had made a point of denying her one.
5. What the Rise of Skywalker title means
The 2019 guess was that “Skywalker” might become a title rather than a family name. That is close to what happened. In the last scene, a passerby on Tatooine asks Rey her name. She answers “Rey Skywalker,” choosing the family that raised her in the Force over the one she was born into.
How Rise of Skywalker did with critics and at the box office
The world premiere was at the Dolby Theatre on December 16, 2019. Worldwide the film took in $1.077 billion, with $515.2 million from the U.S. and Canada. That is the lowest total of the three sequel films. Reviews were mixed: 51% on Rotten Tomatoes from 522 reviews, and 53 on Metacritic.
It earned three Oscar nominations, for John Williams’s score, sound editing and visual effects. Chris Terrio and Abrams wrote the screenplay after Colin Trevorrow left the project in September 2017. Disney+ added the film on May 4, 2020, about two months ahead of schedule. For where it lands against the other films, see this ranking of the Star Wars films.
6. Luke was once Luke Starkiller
George Lucas tried several versions of his hero while writing the 1977 film, and one of them was a woman. The surname “Starkiller” stayed in the script until a few months into filming. Lucas dropped it because of unpleasant connotations with Charles Manson and switched to Skywalker. A different name would have meant a different title for the 2019 film.
7. A monkey was considered for Yoda
For The Empire Strikes Back, the team weighed putting a monkey, a child or a dwarf in a Yoda costume. They chose a puppet instead. Stuart Freeborn and Wendy Froud built it, and Freeborn based the face on his own features and Albert Einstein’s. Frank Oz worked the mouth and brow with his hand inside the head, and he also did the voice.
8. Harrison Ford wanted Han Solo to die in 1983
Ford felt Han should die in Return of the Jedi through an act of self-sacrifice. Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan agreed and wanted it near the start of the third act, so the audience would fear for everyone else. Producer Gary Kurtz has suggested Lucas said no partly because a dead Han would not sell toys. The film came out May 25, 1983, with Han alive, and his death waited 32 years for The Force Awakens.
9. How the Star Wars opening crawl was made
Effects artist Dennis Muren has described how the original-trilogy crawls were shot. Each was a physical model, about 2 feet wide and 6 feet long, laid on the floor. A camera moved slowly along its length. Getting a smooth scroll took a long time.
Lucas developed the look with title designer Dan Perri. His first draft of the text was far too long. “It went on for six paragraphs with four sentences each,” Lucas said in 2005. Director Brian De Palma helped cut it down. Every main-saga film since, including The Rise of Skywalker, has opened the same way.
10. Mark Hamill beat Kurt Russell for Luke
Robby Benson, William Katt, Kurt Russell and Charles Martin Smith all auditioned for Luke. Hamill got the part and carried it across five decades, through The Rise of Skywalker. The video above was posted as his audition footage. More behind-the-scenes history is collected in these facts about the original Star Wars trilogy.
What happened in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker?
When did The Rise of Skywalker come out?
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opened in U.S. theaters on December 20, 2019. Its world premiere was four days earlier, on December 16, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. J.J. Abrams directed it. Disney+ added the film on May 4, 2020, about two months earlier than planned.
How much did The Rise of Skywalker make?
The Rise of Skywalker grossed $1.077 billion worldwide. About $515.2 million came from the U.S. and Canada and $561.8 million from other markets. That passed the billion-dollar mark, yet it was still the lowest gross of the three sequel trilogy films.
Who are Rey’s parents in The Rise of Skywalker?
Rey’s father was Palpatine’s son, which makes her the Emperor’s granddaughter. Her parents hid her on the desert planet Jakku to keep her from Palpatine. The Sith assassin Ochi later killed them. Kylo Ren reveals the truth to Rey during their duel.
Why does Rey call herself Skywalker in Rise of Skywalker?
In the final scene a stranger on Tatooine asks Rey her name, and she answers “Rey Skywalker.” She was born a Palpatine but trained under Luke and Leia. Taking their name is her choice of family, and it is where the film’s title comes from.