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Disney Reveals First 'Star Wars' Spin-Off Officially Titled 'Rogue One'
by Ethan Anderton
March 12, 2015
Right along with the news of Star Wars: Episode VIII getting a summer release in May of 2017, the shareholders meeting led by Disney CEO Bob Iger has also revealed that the title of the first spin-off film will be Star Wars: Rogue One. The news was confirmed in a press release on StarWars.com where it was also confirmed that The Theory of Everything star Felicity Jones will have a starring role in the film, though rumors of the story following the heist to get the plans to the first Death Star have not been confirmed. Disney only said it would be the first in a unique series of big-screen adventures that explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga. But some of the producers have been revealed.
First of all, the release also says that the idea for Rogue One comes from John Knoll, a visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic, which is pretty cool. Knoll will be executive producing the film with Simon Emanuel (The Dark Knight Rises) and Jason McGatlin (The Adventures of Tintin) with Kathleen Kennedy producing along with Tony To ("Band of Brothers") and John Swartz, producer of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) is directing from a script by Chris Weitz (Cinderella, About a Boy) with no mention of Gary Whitta doing the first draft for some reason. The film will begin shooting this summer in London at Pinewood Studios and is still slated to arrive in theaters on December 16th, 2016 next year. Sound good?
41 Comments
2
Felicity Jones is...... a Bothan!
HarryFiddleSticks on Mar 12, 2015
3
Sounds good...but all news of this film will be tainted because it's attached to Gareth Edwards. This film probably won't show us a good x-wing vs tie fighter battle until the last minute of the movie.
superultraboy on Mar 12, 2015
4
And then it will deliver one of the greatest space spectacles in film history.
Jon Odishaw on Mar 12, 2015
5
No, JJ Abrams will do that.
superultraboy on Mar 12, 2015
6
Doubtful... it seems like the casting, script, plot, and Disney discarding the EU is all heavily against Episode 7 being very good. I'm not even sure JJ, with his practical effects and love of Star Wars can direct a good movie without a great script and actors. :/
ckpinkham on Mar 12, 2015
7
Doubt is pathway to the darkside, have waith in JJ
ProjectionistHP on Mar 12, 2015
8
have you read the entire script? I don't think so, so none of us are able to use that against Abrams. Abrams did well with MI:3 and Star Trek 1 (Star Trek 2 was terrible). If you don't like those films, then you probably won't like Episode 7.
superultraboy on Mar 13, 2015
9
You do realize he does most of his movies with actors no one is very familiar with? And its worked out pretty much every time.
Jon Odishaw on Mar 13, 2015
10
Any wars in the stars at all, most likely. Except maybe on a monitor in the background.
OfficialJab on Mar 12, 2015
11
X-wing porn? Sign me up. Gareth Edwards though... weird.
avconsumer2 on Mar 12, 2015
12
No faith in Gareth Edwards after the disaster Godzilla, but a great script will rescue him from oblivion of nothing...
ari smulders on Mar 12, 2015
13
Disaster? We must not have watched the same movie.
MrCreepyhands on Mar 12, 2015
14
no...it was a boring disaster. you must have watched the Robocop reboot instead, lol!
superultraboy on Mar 12, 2015
15
Robocop sucked...
ckpinkham on Mar 12, 2015
16
So the Robocop reboot wasn't a disaster and Godzilla was? Jeesh, I'll make no further attempts to communicate with you, clearly we're speaking a different language.
Chris Groves on Mar 13, 2015
17
you sir apparently missed the sarcasm...both Godzilla and Robocop were epic disasters.
superultraboy on Mar 13, 2015
18
Robocop wasn't such a disaster as the overhyped and cgi filled Godzilla crap! It was the only movie last year I wanted to walked out after one hour. But I think I compared it to much to the classic monsters...
ari smulders on Mar 13, 2015
19
Godzilla was great, Robocop...not so much
Chris Groves on Mar 16, 2015
20
Fair enough, growing up as a fan of Godzilla, owning every available film on VHS, then DVD, being able to tell even as a child that the 98 Godzilla "wasn't really Godzilla"...the 2014 movie was damn near the Godzilla movie I'd always wanted to see. I can see how when some people expect certain things, their expectations color their perspective. I never hope for anything more than a good movie, and I feel Godzilla was a great one.
Chris Groves on Mar 16, 2015
21
Loved every single minute of that Godzilla disaster. Don't care for the rather clownish originals. Lucky me.
naundob on Mar 14, 2015
22
Agreed.
DAVIDPD on Mar 12, 2015
23
We have different taste, that's it...
ari smulders on Mar 13, 2015
24
Nice. Hopefully we get a good balance of jedi, smugglers, sith, and military SW films.
Xerxexx on Mar 12, 2015
25
Man, this doesn't sound bad at all... I have faith that with the right script (which he lacked in Godzilla) Edwards could make a great rollicking flick with this (remember the halo jump scene??).
Terry Craig on Mar 12, 2015
26
I thought you were talking about a "slipspace jump" scene in a Halo movie... and I couldn't remember one in Landfall or Forward Unto Dawn and I was like... "What Halo jump scene .-.?" you meant the High Altitude, Low-Opening skydiving scene in Godzilla, right? XD took me awhile there.
ckpinkham on Mar 12, 2015
27
Yep, that's the one.
Terry Craig on Mar 13, 2015
28
Except they've discarded the EU, so Jaina doesn't exist anymore as far as I'm aware... and don't they already have all the confirmed characters for 7? Maybe Jaina could be in 8 or something though... and I agree that I don't want "feminism fests" or "female pandering" or some crap... but if it's done right, a movie with a strong female lead can be great. Or even do something more like Captain America The Winter Soldier, where you basically have 2 major characters, one male, one female... and you can do something AWESOME. So I'm not worried about them trying to bring in some strong women... I'm far more worried that they're just shitting all over the established universe. :/
ckpinkham on Mar 12, 2015
29
I actually said I'm completely fine with a strong female lead... so I don't sound like a dick. A lot of companies are trying for female leads that just don't work out, ie, pandering. If we truly want equality, that means not getting mad when a movie has a male lead that most females just wouldn't work in. Now, when it's something cerebral, like Lucy (in the sense she isn't physically ripping you apart like a gorilla), it works just fine with either gender. When you're supposed to be a warrior goddess (the new Wonder Woman) you should look somewhat physically imposing (from swinging swords all day). Green Lantern could work well for a woman. SuperMAN not so much lol. But that's why there's super girl and power girl. Flash/speedster = either gender. Rambo? Maybe more male. Or at least, not EVERY woman could do it. Michelle Rodriguez (though overused IMO) seems to do the female badass quite well... Megan Fox? Maybe not so much. You need the right female and story for it to work. Similar to how not EVERY guy can be Rambo either. Though anyone could be a terminator (Summer Glau vs Arnold) see what I'm saying? But don't try to shoehorn a woman in as your lead if it works better as a man.
ckpinkham on Mar 13, 2015
30
That's basically what I just said... except a lot less words XD though I support which way it works better. It's kind of like, you might eat a hamburger or a cheeseburger, but if you want a cheeseburger, wouldn't you be a little disappointed with a hamburger?
ckpinkham on Mar 13, 2015
31
"All I'm saying is if the character works, the genitals don't matter." Interesting you say this while those in charge of these recent SW films wanted women for a purpose. So their genitals did matter when picking them to promote their movie. It was't just to bring a bunch of actors and actresses in and to pick the best one that felt the best. They only wanted women as their lead, period. JJ Abrams: “From the beginning of discussions [with writer Lawrence Kasdan]. the notion of a woman at the centre of the story was always something that was compelling and exciting to me. And not just at the centre. We knew that, in addition to Leia who was a critical piece of this puzzle, we wanted to have other women – not necessarily human, but female – characters in the story. We always wanted to write Rey as the central character, but it was just one of the things we knew we wanted to do: to make the film look and feel more like the way the world looks and feels.”
Adam Pickles on Apr 10, 2016
32
"Put aside your politics and just look at the core truths of the story." Wait a minute. So I'm supposed to ignore their politics and not allow that to bother me. Politics that practically ruined their first 'Rey' character in episode IV? I mean, they're allowed to do it but not me unless I'm labeled sexist. Gotcha!
Adam Pickles on Apr 11, 2016
33
Of course people will complain on here and let their frustrations out. Do you seriously think this form is strictly made to only talk positively about films, just to make you feel warm and fuzzy all over lol. Are you that out of touch with reality?
Adam Pickles on Apr 11, 2016
34
The problem is that when they have a female lead (especially with Disney's princess syndrome) they tend to make her a "Mary Sue" that is not allowed to even break fingernail. Just like with Rey's character, they are more interested in showing how she is better than the boys and less interested in developing her as a character that needs to grow and learn.
Chris Ferguson on Jan 14, 2016
35
"You guys sound like a bunch of dicks. Why is it so threatening to have a strong female protagonist in your film?" Why is there always some fool like you, who comes back with this exact line like a typical white knight? Sometimes, guys and little boys would love to connect to an actual male lead who's better than yes, even the girls. Star Wars is predominately watched by males, so it would be only right to not go bat-shit crazy with the feminist propaganda here like they did with episode VII. There is barely any movie made nowadays in the sci fi genre, where women actually behave feminine without taking on typical masculine traits. It's ridiculous.
Adam Pickles on Apr 7, 2016
36
"You sound like such a douche. Everyone watches everything you troglodyte." If that were true, then they wouldn't be pandering to the female audience to lure in more females now would they you brainwashed fool. Notice there are so few female villains and killers in movies compared to the males but where's the outcry. There are also more deaths involving males (look at the Jurassic Park and 300 series) but again, fine too. Where are those female bank robber films and rapists in movies when you need them. Perhaps a female pedophile thrown in there too. Nah, they just want all the positive images.
Adam Pickles on Apr 10, 2016
37
"I wasn't aware telling a story using a good character is "pandering." I continue to hear this shit. REY WAS NOT A GOOD CHARACTER!!!! *Apparently white Anglo men are the only people of worth in narrative.* Yes, because that's what I said isn't it dummy. "I have a question, why does a female lead threaten you?" Why are you asking the same question again, that I answered. Stay with me here Doc.
Adam Pickles on Apr 11, 2016
38
ROGUE ONE?! Stay on target!!!~
DAVIDPD on Mar 12, 2015
39
Clever title
F. Ewe on Mar 13, 2015
40
maybe the rogue one is the female daughter of princess leia think about it this is supposed to be the future of it not the past so if they take this she can move to another planet and then have the boy from star wars rebels or the girl who does the grafiti and base the anime tv show for a live action film
tx345453 on May 16, 2015
41
"Gone are the days of strong male heroes." My thoughts exactly. Lots of little boys are going to start emulating little girls now unfortunately.
Adam Pickles on Apr 7, 2016
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