After the magnificence of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the wait for Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII seems all the more unbearable. But thankfully, we don’t have to wait until December 2017 to return to the galaxy far, far away.
Billed as ‘A Star Wars Story’, Rogue One, which is being helmed by Monsters and Godzilla director Gareth Edwards, is set for release in December of 2016. Taking place in the years before A New Hope, it’s being billed as a heist movie in which a band of Rebel fighters carry out a desperate attempt to steal the plans for the original Death Star.
Those hoping to see younger versions of heroes like Han Solo and Princess Leia will be sorely disappointed, but Edwards has pulled together a cracking cast: Felicity Jones, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker and Mads Mikkelsen are all set to join up, but it’s unclear who’ll be siding with the Rebels or the Empire.
And if this first trailer is anything to go by, Rogue One will bear little resemblance to the rollocking, old-fashioned adventures of the original saga. There are Stormtroopers and AT-ATs and subtle hints of John Williams’ score, but this has a more down and dirty feel than we’re used to. We’re not hanging back with the big heroes: we’re on the front lines. This is Star Wars, but not as we know it.
**Update 13 October, 2016**
The second official trailer has just dropped and it’s a real doozy. Watch it and let us know what you think @LWLies.
Rogue One will be released 16 December.
Published 7 Apr 2016
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