Q: What is the best part about getting a thing of fast-food french fries? A: Believing you have finished your cheat-day treat, only to discover that there are still a few stragglers with a pulse left in the bottom of the bag. This phenomenon might illuminate a bit of the logic behind the recent proliferation of post- and mid-credits scenes in studio blockbusters, the practice in which a film squirrels away an additional bit of footage after some or all of the credits have rolled. Part of it is simply smart branding; what better place to unveil the first commercial for your next movie than at the end of a movie your captive audience has already shelled out money to see? But there’s a palpable demand from fans for just one more little taste after a film has wound up.

This practice has become so commonplace that now, apparently, filmmakers are expected to confirm if their newest project will not have a secret scene. At least, that’s what Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams did at a press conference over the weekend — a big hullabaloo for a movie that none of the press in attendance has actually been permitted to see, which raises the question as to why Lucasfilm and Bad Robot would do such a thing in the first place, but that’s neither here or there. (Though it is… somewhere.)

Abrams assured everybody in the room that they could freely haul their behinds right out of the theater at the conclusion of Star Wars: The Force Awakens without fear of missing out on a morsel of additional content, or a sneak peek at Episode VIII: The Force Checks Its Clock, Sees It Still Has, Like, Twenty Minutes Until Its Alarm Goes Off, Tries To Go Back To Sleep, Can’t, Figures ‘Ah, Screw It’, And Spends Those Twenty Minutes Checking Twitter.

When asked if there would be a Force Awakens post-credits scene or a tease of future Star Wars films to come, Abrams said, ““No. All of the scenes are actually in the movie.”

A Force Awakens post-credits scene seemed unlikely, but there was always the outside hope that there might be a teaser or footage from Star Wars: Rogue One, which opens next December.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in theaters on December 18.

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