J.J. Abrams premieres new Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker clip in Fortnite, which has lightsabers now
PHOTO: YouTube screengrab
PUBLISHED ONDecember 16, 2019 5:28 AMByIlyas Sholihyn
As we’re coming close to the end of 2019, one thing has become certain as we transition into a new decade: Fortnite is inescapable.
Rather than the typical mediums of late-night shows, social media or YouTube, director J.J Abrams decided that a video game is the new way to promote Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It’s a logical marriage, really — one of the biggest film franchises in history crosses over with one of the biggest video games on earth.
The event kicked off yesterday (Dec 15) within Fortnite, or to be exact, at the game’s drive-in theatre called Risky Reels. Players then received visitors from a galaxy far, far away when the Millennium Falcon swung into the skies and fought off a couple of TIE fighters and Star Destroyers before landing at the virtual cinema.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaUJF155MBQ[/embed]
Abrams (or at least his accurate avatar) appeared together with gaming journalist Geof Keighley and comedic actor Ben Schwartz, who’ll apparently appear as a stormtrooper in the film. Then the reveal of the exclusive clip via a gigantic floating display in Fortnite. It was a little jarring for something like this to happen in a video game, but I guess this is the way things are now.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLsV4aA-Suk[/embed]
The screening ended, but the Star Wars tie-in event has just begun. The obligatory skins — including the option to dress up as Rey, Finn or a Sith Trooper — emotes, and other cosmetics are available for purchase. And yes, lightsabers are now in Fortnite too.
[embed]https://twitter.com/starswaruzay/status/1206370605043527681[/embed]
This would not be the first time the battle royale behemoth has teamed up with Hollywood; the likes of John Wick, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and the Avengers film franchise have appeared as part of the Fortnite universe. Which shouldn’t be surprising, considering the game reaches up to 78 million active players per month. And that’s a lot of eyeballs for marketing purposes.