Speculation On The Next Star Wars Film Title

Over at /Film, Peter Sciretta has fallen full-on into speculation mode about the title of the next Star Wars flick.

There are some things here that are evident. Star Wars titles love to be the “something of the something.” We’ve had three “something of the something” titles in the first two trilogies alone: Return of the Jedi, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. But we’ve yet to get a “something of the something” title from this last trilogy. This has led a lot of fans to speculate that this last title could be something of that angle.

Here are some predictions:

  • Rise of the Jedi: This would give us a “something of the something” title for this trilogy, and is an echo back to Return of the Jedi, a film that Abrams is likely emulating for this final chapter.
  • Rise of the Resistance: Many fans are suggesting this title, but it’s already the title of one of the rides in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. I’m not sure I like it because it sounds more like a middle chapter, not a conclusion.
  • Fall of the First Order: Seems a bit on the nose.
[...]

Admittedly, I tried to guess the title of Episode 8, and I was very, very wrong. So I wouldn’t listen to me when it comes to this…but here are some guesses at the title for Episode 9:

  • A Last Hope: I like this idea the most as it would be a good bookend to A New Hope. Rey is the last hope in the Galaxy. From what I understand, Abrams is not just ending this trilogy with this film, but trying to bring the entire nine movie arc full circle. So this title could work for that. Jacob Hall, my editor, has suggested it could also be A Final Hope or The Last Hope, although I kind of doubt they would use the word “The” at the beginning of every one of the titles in the sequel trilogy.
  • The Resistance Strikes Back: This feels like something George Lucas may have created, but not Abrams. Also, it’s another title that sounds like a middle chapter of a trilogy.
  • The Final Order: A suggestion from weekend editor Brad Oman, who argues that The First Order will be the last order when they are defeated and also that it could have layers to it, like a final order from Kylo Ren to stand down, and maybe it’s also the last Jedi Rrder, too.
  • A Title Hidden in One of the Previous Films: Adam Frazier speculates that just as The Last Jedi was hidden in the opening text crawl in The Force Awakens, maybe the title for Episode 9 is hidden somewhere in the previous two movies: THE DARKNESS RISING, A NEW ORDER, SON OF DARKNESS, THE LAST HOPE, A SPARK OF HOPE, THE REBELLION IS REBORN.
  • Ashes of the Empire: One Reddit thread agrees with Frazier’s theory and thinks it could be these words that appear a couple of lines above The Last Jedi in that original Episode VII crawl (see the image above).
  • Spark of Hope: This is another idea based on something from The Last Jedi, suggesting that the galaxy hearing about Jedi Master Luke Skywalker’s return would restore a spark of hope to the fight.
  • The Knights of Ren: While I do think Abrams will follow-up on this angle from The Force Awakens, I don’t think the Knights of Ren are enough to make the title for the last and final chapter.

I'm honestly not sure I love an of these ideas outside of "A Final Hope."

My favorite suggestion though comes from the notion that there's a pattern - when you put all of the "new" movies together:


Heh. I'd buy that idea.

But this is the type of stuff that I can sink my nerd-teeth into really well. Now that filming has wrapped:


...the excitement is expanding exponentially. The bottom line is that nobody has ANY idea what the title of Star Wars IX will be - and yet there are hundreds of articles on the web that are speculating just that. The other day I saw an article about the antenna array on the Millennium Falcon - and how it differs from the original trilogy, and even The Force Awakens. Really.

I don't know about you bu in the end I won't care what the film will be called. Disney/Abrams/Lucas already has my money.

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