Star Wars: Rogue One, To Feel Very Real

By Reggie's Take on April 19, 2015

On the last day of the Star Wars Celebration, director Gareth Edwards gave fans in attendance some new information on what we can expect from the first standalone film in the Star Wars universe.

Producer and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm’s vice president of development Kiri Hart, and director Gareth Edwards all took to the stage to talk about what’s now being referred to as an “anthology film” for “Rogue One”.

We found out on Sunday that the standalone films were actually George Lucas’s idea. George wanted to explore all of the stories that take place in and around the Star Wars universe and not just the ones connected to the trilogies.

A trailer was created by ILM and shown to the fans in attendance to let everyone know what they can expect when the film comes out in December of 2016. Obi-Wan’s voice is heard narrating, “For over a thousand of generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the Dark Times. Before the Empire.” The camera slowly tracks through a forest to reveal the Death Star looming over the horizon of an unknown planet. The crowd explodes into cheers.

Rogue One will take place between Episode III and Episode IV. Edwards noted “maybe a little bit more towards IV,” as he said that “A New Hope” is his favorite movie. Rogue One will feature no Jedi. Edwards also said they want “Rogue One” to feel real, very natural and subjective.

Speaking of real and natrual the team behind “Rogue One” was also announce who all have a lot of experience in making war movies. Director of Photography Greig Fraser worked on Zero Dark Thirty, VFX supervisor Neil Corblud worked on Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan. Neil Lamont and Doug Chiang are production designers.

John Knoll from ILM was the one who actually pitched “Rogue One” and pitched it to Kathleen Kennedy and Kiri Hart soon after they took over at Lucasfilm. Edwards said he was to exhausted after making Godzilla and hoped he would hate the idea, but after reading it said, “Oh fuck. I couldn’t sit in a cinema and know someone else made this film.”

“Rogue One” is currently in pre-production and will begin filing late this summer in the UK at Pinewood Studios and other locations across the globe.

The official synopsis:
“A band of resistance fighters unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans.”

Reggie’s Take:
So far I like what I’m hearing about “Rogue One.” If the story line is about stealing plans from the Death Star, does this mean we might actually see Darth Vader once again or will they avoid using the dark lord all together?

For me personally, I would have no issue if they used Darth Vader as the main villain once again. Just because the movie won’t feature any Jedi doesn’t mean you cant use him. After all he is the Emperor’s enforcer for the galaxy so in my mind it would make sense.

My other thought concerning the film is will they also use Grand Moff Tarkin? After all he was in charge of the first Death Star and if you use Vader it would only make sense to use Tarkin as well.

This of course is early speculation and thought on my part, but if the main theme of the movie revolves around the theft of the Death Star plans using Tarkin and Vader are logical choices.

We will have to wait and see.