I’m considering doing a radical edit that puts to Throne Room as the climax. I feel like Rey and Kylo’s arcs end here. Crait would be put near the start. This kind of turns the film into a rehash of ESB and ROTJ, but with so many similarities the twists will stand out even more. Also the Sequels are too tonally inconsistent for me, this would make it more like TFA. This is my (current) plan:
The First Order Strikes Back
–Opening crawl establishes that it’s two months since TFA. The Republic’s few ships have been spread thin and the Resistance is the only threat remaining. Finn and Poe are now distinguished commanders, Kylo has been out conquering the inner rim, and Rey has been training with Luke (who is a Jedi).
–First scene is Kylo arriving on the Supremacy. Hux informs Snoke that they have the Resistance on a string, having located their base on Crait. Kylo gets rid of his mask and tells his troops to prepare his ship for the attack.
–Battle of Crait happens, Poe retreats and Finn follows (to remove that scene). Luke suddenly appears, his first appearance. Battle goes as it did only with Luke not dying. Most of the Ach-To training scenes are recut to make it seem like Luke still believes in the Jedi. This also makes Rey more relatable.
–Movie plays out mostly like it did before, the rebels are escaping on the Raddus but are caught by the Supremacy. Recut Rose’s scene to imply her sister died on Crait. Canto Bight trimmed, as others have suggested cut right as they escape prison.
–While in hyperspace the Resistance meets up with a fragment of Republic forces (the other ships). Among them is Vice Admiral Holdo. When the bridge is destroyed, Poe will believe he should be in charge, as he actually fought the first order rather than sit in the senate. Leia dies on the bridge, after Holdo’s sacrifice Poe is put in charge (but it is only then when he comes to respect Holdo).
–After learning the truth about Luke activating his saber on Ben, Rey leaves in anger and thinks she can turn Ben. Yoda comes and this is the last we see of Luke, his death can be saved for 9. Throne Room, Finn v Phasma, and Kamikaze Run make up the climax.
I haven’t made a thread yet because I don’t know if it’s possible, I shall wait for TLJ on DVD. I’m assuming this idea hasn’t been mentioned yet but if it has I won’t do it.