The Movie broke a Star Wars tradition, and on who was a bit easier to miss: It’s the first film in the main saga not to use the infamous “Wilhelm scream.”
Since 1977, every film in the main Star Wars franchise (aside from the spinoff Rogue One), has weaved in the aural Easter egg that is the Wilhelm scream, the wailing shriek of a soundbite named after the moment Private Wilhelm catches an arrow to the leg in the 1953 Western The Charge at Feather River. Whether it’s accompanying careening Stormtroopers or Naboo palace guards taking a hit, the scream has cropped up in every chapter of the Skywalker saga… that is, until The Last Jedi came along.
Sound editor Matthew Wood revealed that for the first time:
In this movie, we decided to move from the Wilhelm scream. We’re letting the past die, as Kylo Ren says.
We’ve started another scream that we like. It’s actually been in this film and Rogue One, and some other films that are not Star Wars-related. But it’s our own little calling card.
And the big question now is, what is this new cry?
