According to Walt Disney Studios, the highly anticipated film, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” could trigger seizures in people with epilepsy.
In a statement with the Epilepsy Foundation, the company warned viewers that the film contains “several sequences with imagery and sustained flashing lights.” The company said the features could affect people with photosensitive epilepsy.
Disney has sent a letter to theater owners and operators worldwide with a recommendation that special steps should be taken to alert moviegoers about the visual effects and flashing lights in the J.J. Abrams-directed interstellar adventure.
Out of an abundance of caution,” the letter opens, “we recommend that you provide at your venue box office and online, and at other appropriate places where your customers will see it, a notice containing the following information: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker contains several sequences with imagery and sustained flashing lights that may affect those who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy or have other photosensitivities.”
Flashing lights at certain intensities and patterns can trigger seizures in nearly 3 percent of people with epilepsy, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.
The foundation said the warning does not mean people with epilepsy cannot see the film. The Epilepsy Foundation recommends those impacted to ask a friend to watch the film first, then take the friend to see the film again to warn about the scenes before they happen.
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is not the first Disney film to come with the warning. “Incredibles II,” contained a sequence of flashing lights that also could have triggered seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy. Notices were posted in theaters for that premiere after people on Twitter shared concerns.