Star Wars: Rogue One won’t be hitting theaters until December 16, 2016, but we’ve already got plot details, a teaser trailer, and a whole slew of other information about the development of the project now courtesy of Hero Complex (via The Playlist), including news that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy was hesitant, at first, to develop the various Star Wars side stories that will be told in the “anthology” films like Rogue One.
Set within the preexisting galaxy timeline — so, sometime between Episode I and Episode VI — the anthology films will be released during the dead years of the new sequel trilogy, so as to ensure we get a new Star Wars movie every year for at least the next five years. Kennedy acknowledges that franchises and sequels, such as the one she is building, have dominated the film industry over the last decade, a change to the point she was initially against the idea of making an anthology series on top of the new sequel trilogy.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh my God, I’m opening the floodgates if I say yes,'” Kennedy recalled her reaction when first pitched the idea, but she obviously came around, adding, “Star Wars films could still remain just as special… [These] stories are not a dime a dozen.” That last bit is interesting to me, given all the Expanded Universe stuff out there and the sheer volume of Star Wars novels, comics, animated series, TV specials, and video games in existence. I’d argue Star Wars stories are a dime a dozen, but I guess that’s neither here nor there, we’re getting these movies and that’s that.
If you’re curious where exactly Rogue One falls in the Star Wars timeline, it is set between the last film in the prequel trilogy (Revenge of the Sith) and the original 1977 Star Wars film, acting as a bridge of sorts between the two trilogies, though, it is, its own self-contained story. As for the tone, director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) says the characters live in a morally gray area between good and bad and that it will “be quite different and when you go see it you should expect the unexpected.”
As for what we do know with some certainty, Rogue One will center on a band of resistance fighters who unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans. The film doesn’t hit theaters until next year, but surely you will want to check out Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens on December 18 this year to gear up for what’s in store the next half-decade or so. Oh, and you can check out a new interview with Rogue One director Gareth Edwards below.
