While hackers from Russia used social media to create havoc for the US elections, they aren't limited to politics. Russians and their bots took some time to influence Rian Johnson's plot of The Last Jedi, too. Whether it was practice for bigger things, or maybe just a side project by fanboys, who knows. But Johnson tells the story of how a coordinated campaign from Russia tried to control the destiny of the character of General Hux.
What did these highly coordinated Russian Twitter accounts want from the director of the new Star Wars film? To not kill General Hux, says Johnson. Coordinating around the hashtag #HuxLive, Russian accounts flooded Johnson’s mentions early in the production to ensure that their favorite oppressor made it through the new trilogy. Why the Russians bots love Hux is clear now — they are way into authoritarian regimes — but at the time, it appears to have been perplexing for Johnson and his collaborators on The Last Jedi.
#HuxLive pic.twitter.com/zyZmi3UEiS
— Херовый♦Генерал (@Loh_General) July 5, 2016
It's one of the tidbits Johnson revealed in the documentary The Director and the Jedi, a 90-minute feature on the home version of The Last Jedi. Read about about it at Film School rejects. -via io9