While Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been grabbing the majority of headlines, Disney has continued rolling out its plans for its recently acquired franchise. These include Star Wars: Rogue One due out in 2016.
Disney initially gutted its new acquisition by scrapping the expanded universe material that had accumulated over the years. Next, they announced a major addition in the form of a new trilogy of interconnected feature movies starting with The Force Awakens coming out this December.
To fill the room left by the discarded expanded universe, there is the animated television series Star Wars Rebels, some new novels, and a few comic books published by Marvel. We now know there will be a series of non-saga films to look forward to as well.
These so-called anthology films will bring to light various storylines not directly explored in the main episodes. The first of these will be called Star Wars: Rogue One and will be directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Monsters).
Not only will these movies not feature the main series’ characters or events, we should also expect a very different tone and feel. Those in the know say the tone of Rogue One will be more similar to a Vietnam War film than the other Star War movies. So, we should see something dirtier, grittier and more brutal.
The plot for Rogue One has been confirmed. It will take place during the dark era between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It will involve the rebel theft of the blueprints for the first Death Star.
During this period of Star Wars lore, we know that many of the Jedi were wiped out by Order 66, and those remaining are being hunted and therefore are in hiding. This will allow for the normal, non-force wielding people inhabiting the universe to take centre stage.
In the very brief teaser shown at the Star Wars Celebration, we see the setting – a jungle terrain rumoured to be Yavin-4. We hear an ominous quote from Sir Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi. A lone TIE fighter flies overhead then the Death Star comes into focus, looming large over the planet. As the screen turns to black, scrambled, panicked radio voices are heard.
The planned release date for Star Wars: Rogue One is December 16, 2016. I for one eagerly await further announcements regarding this project.
What do you think about Star Wars: Rogue One? Are you excited by the change in tone of would you prefer them to stick to the familiar feel?
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