"Star Wars: Rogue One" will soon be released in cinemas, but some fans of the franchise are threatening to pull their support for the latest entry in the series and boycott the movie.
The hashtag #DumpStarWars began trending on Twitter on Thursday after Jack Posobiec, whose Twitter bio states he is the special projects director for an advocacy group called Citizens For Trump, claimed the film had been reshot to include an anti-Donald Trump message.
Chris Weitz, one of the screenwriters, responded that the claims were completely fake and called Posobiec a liar.
A spokesman for Disney said he was "frustrated with the false reports" but declined to elaborate.
Despite Weitz's retort, some Twitter users took the claims seriously and called for politics to be kept out of "Star Wars."
Others rounded on the political views expressed by Weitz. For instance, the writer posted an image of a "Star Wars" icon with a safety pin through after the U.S. election. The safety pin is a symbol of solidarity with victims of hate crime.
The "Star Wars" franchise has always had political overtones. The design of the Imperial Officers' uniforms were based on Nazi uniforms, and the first film "A New Hope" was influenced by World War II movies such as "The Dam Busters."
Despite the boycott calls, the film is still expected to do well this year. Box Office Pro forecasts the film to make $135 million in its opening weekend and a cumulative $405 million.
"Star Wars: Rogue One" is released on Dec. 16.