Rian Johnson revealed the name and significance of the red dust planet in The Last Jedi

Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson revealed the name of a new planet in the new trailer & hinted how it fits into the film’s red color scheme.

One of the notable parts of the new The Last Jedi trailer was a glimpse at a planet of red dust. Director Rian Johnson revealed to Entertainment Weekly several facts about this new world. These facts include its name and location in the galaxy, what the red dust is and how the color red is an important symbol in the new movie.

Regarding its name, Johnson labeled the new world Crait. It’s not a world we’ve ever heard of before, and there is an in-universe reason for that: “It’s very remote”:

"“It’s way out there. It’s very remote. It’s uncharted,” says Johnson. “It’s a mineral planet and so there are mines on it.”"

Image Credit: Lucasfilm

Much like Jakku in The Force Awakens, however, which was a quiet world before the Empire and the New Republic fought their final big battle over it in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy, Crait becomes the site of a dangerous conflict. According to Johnson, it was once a Rebel Alliance base. In The Last Jedi, the forces of good and evil have returned to Crait’s surface:

"“It ends up playing a key role in the movie,” he says, adding that the Resistance fighters — flying in the skimmers seen in the trailer — “show up where they have to deal with a very pressing and immediate threat.”"

The red dust the skimmers kick up is just beneath Crait’s surface and covered in a layer of white salt. The dust is a mineral, presumably the one which the mines on the planet are there to extract.

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But the red color of the dust has a deeper purpose than just cool visual effects. Entertainment Weekly says Rian Johnson “employs this part of the spectrum for a specific reason.” We already see the color red at work in The Last Jedi teaser poster and in countless other places. For example, Kylo Ren’s lightsaber is red. Blood is red.

When EW mused to Johnson how blood can stand for different things – violence and family are two – Johnson said:

"“Go ahead and run with that.”"

I love when film directors put this much thought into their films. It reminds me of George Lucas’s painstaking attention to symbolism. And there is so much potential symbolism in the color red. I know my viewing of the film will be altered because I will be looking for moments in the film where this color is utilized and what it indicates in each moment.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres in theaters on December 15, 2017.