Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, the latest film in the Star Wars saga, features quite a few special effects, ranging from spaceships to any manner of alien lifeform. However, Rise of Skywalker, which released digitally early, almost featured an additional, massive creature that didn't quite make it into the film, despite its practical effect being one of the series' biggest yet.
First surfaced by Polygon, advance copies of The Art of Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, an art book for the film, feature some impressive-looking concepts, including one for the Oracle, a massive creature that almost made it into the film. The Oracle took many forms throughout various concept designs, though JJ Abrams, the film's director, eventually decided on a lumpy, bug-eyed creature with six legs and webbed feet.
The sequence the Oracle was meant to be seen in would've featured Ben Solo, before taking up the mantle of Kylo Renn, journey to a swamp planet, where he would've encountered the massive beast. Instead, the opening scene of Kylo Renn on Mustafar made the final cut of the movie. However, the practical effect of the Oracle had been partially completed. The creature was the "biggest silicon pour" the team had ever done and weighed in at a whopping 28,000 pounds. Jabba the Hutt only weighed in at about 2,000 pounds, for comparison.
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker went through many changes while being made, as movies often do. Recently, the full script of Colin Trevorrow's take on Episode 9 leaked, with radical differences between that film and the one that was eventually made. If anything, insight into how much movies change during production is interesting to see, especially when compared to the final product.
Star Wars is one of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world, with deep lore and plenty of content. Soon, it begins a new chapter with Star Wars: The High Republic, a series of books, comics, and more that will explore the galaxy far, far away. Presumably, that will lead to quite a few more canceled creations, so who knows what other concepts may start to pop up in the future.
Source: Polygon