A very serious leak appears to have happened at Lucasfilm and Disney. The script from the original The Rise of Skywalker director penciled in to write and direct the movie, Colin Trevorrow, has leaked. While this could all be nonsense and must be taken with a pinch of salt, we do know that he split from the franchise due to creative differences and boy, is this reported leak different from the final film we can see today. Some fans are even calling it a much more fitting end to the franchise than what Rise of Skywalker became.
The leaks come from the same subreddit that accurately revealed the final plot of the movie and leaked images from the ending way back in October, so we know that they at least do have some credit.
Here are some of the core differences…
The title of the movie
The proposed original title was a call back to one of the greatest pieces of music written for the franchise, lifted directly from The Phantom Menace, Duel of Fates. Yup, the original title was Duel of Fates and no, our friend Darth Maul didn’t feature. Nor did another villain that ended up in the final cut…
Huge changes to the story
The original script puts a lot more emphasis on the inner demons of Kylo Ren and doesn’t even feature Palpatine beyond a message that he left behind on Mustafar that was only to be played in the event of him being destroyed.
Here are the starting credits based on the new script for reference:
The iron grip of the FIRST ORDER has spread to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Only a few scattered planets remained unoccupied. Traitorous acts are punishable by death. Determined to suffocate a growing unrest, Supreme Leader KYLO REN has silenced all communication between neighboring systems. Led by GENERAL LEIA ORGANA, the Resistance has planned a secret mission to prevent their annihilation and forge a path to freedom…
Ren finds a Holocron instead of a Wayfinder where Palpatine directs him to a sith teacher, Tor Valum, who is perhaps another name for Darth Plagueis, Palpatine’s original master

Luke Skywalker also plays a much larger role in the original script, both in trying to convince Kylo Ren to turn against the dark side and in training Rey and encouraging her to put an end to both the Sith and Jedi to become something new.
Other highlights include The Resistance stealing a Star Destroyer, Kylo Ren fighting Darth Vader (think Empire Strikes Back Dagobah fight), and Chewbacca piloting an X-Wing!
The original script also didn’t make a big deal over Rey’s parents, continuing the theme from The Last Jedi in stating that they were nobodies. The big reveal is that Kylo Ren is revealed to have killed her parents and the film comes to a finale when Rey and Kylo enter an epic battle where we find out that there’s no going back for Ben.
Force Ghosts also play a much larger role with Luke, Yoda and Obi-Wan assisting Rey in defeating Kylo Ren.

I’ll be honest, this all sounds fantastic and I like how the story is a bit more consistent between The Last Jedi and the final movie. Though I’ve said it before, I am a huge fan of The Rise of Skywalker and thought it was a great end to the Skywalker story.
What are your thoughts on the story changes in the supposed leak? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: IGN