Indeed. But don’t u think by doing the following cuts and changes it would work legitalemty. This is as detailed as I can be currently just off of memory of the movie:
-Make Hux’s speech stay at the same point in the story but instead it’s in prep for the base to start sucking a star. This helps explain star killer base and why the resistance starts taking about it in the base (more on that later)
-Replace firing shots with star sucking shots (musical transition)
-cut Kylo looking
-cut Hux saying fire
-move Han/Finn reactions on Takodana to First Order Arriving while cutting Finn saying “it was the first order, they did it”
-cut Poe saying “Finn knows about the weapon THAT DESTROYED THE HOSNIAN SYSTEM” or just cut Finns confrontation with Leia
-cut Snoke saying they will target rebel base and him ordering Hux to oversee preparations. You could start the scene after Hux had left or cut the scene entirely
-there is no star sucking scene before resistance briefing now since this is scene would now already have been paired with Hux’s speech earlier.
-cut reference to star killer targeting the resistance base during briefing.
-it’s now implied that it’s sucking up star in prep for an attack (Poe explains this star draining concept during briefing). If you cut them saying its next target is resistance base then 3PO’s line about how “without the republic fleet they’re doomed” (something along those lines) that line now can mean that if the republic is destroyed then their resistance and ultimately the Galaxy would be doomed.
-after Rey and Finn desperately shoot at Troopers after Han dies cut to star killer base firing and destroying the Hosnian system. Utilize Leias breakdown here now as a double whammie so that her one reaction shot can be used in response to both Hans death and Hosnian destruction. This would be the critical success moment of this plot change/restructure
-Then cut to Chewie blowing charges and let movie play out as normal.
There may be a couple more mentions of Hosnian destruction that would need to be cut. But keeping Hux’s speech and them all watching it freakin suck up a star would be good to introduce the bases purpose. Then once it destroys the republic you may need to cut happiness down from pilots to be consistent with the fact that the republic was recently destroyed.