Study: Negative 'Star Wars' Buzz The Work Of Russian Trolls, Bots

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LOS ANGELES (CBSNewYork) -- All the negative buzz about Star Wars: The Last Jedi was likely the work of Russian online trolls and bots.

That's according to a researcher at the University of Southern California.

Producer Kathleen Kennedy, C-3PO and Mark Hamill attend the 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' press conference at the Ritz Carlton Tokyo. (Photo by Christopher Jue/Getty Images for Disney)

Episode VIII was the focus of an online backlash from angry self-professed fans, but researchers say much of the movie's criticism was "deliberate, organized political influence measures... disguised as fan arguments."

The Last Jedi scored a 91 percent positive, or fresh, rating from critics on review aggregation website RottenTomatoes.com, while only registering a 45 percent positive rating from audience reviews.