The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly features two covers both of Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso and the looming presence of Darth Vader as well as the Empire’s superweapon, the Death Star. The upcoming prequel which leads directly into the original classic Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, follows a rag-tag group of rebel spies as the rebellion infiltrates the Empire — stealing the plans to the Death Star — and winning its first battle in the galactic civil war.
The battle is set to take place on and over top of the planet Scariff, home to the Imperial base where the Death Star was constructed. But before the rebellion can infiltrate the base, they first must destroy the shield gate. The planet of Scarrif is so valuable to Emperor Palpatine, he has it protected with a massive shield to prevent intruders from landing on the planet.
Considering we have already seen Jyn, Cassian, and K-2SO make their way into the facility, we can look forward to seeing the Rebellion destroy the shield gate. Hopefully in an unexpected way. Since the outcome of the film is already known, Lucasfilm has a tremendous amount of pressure to deliver something audiences won’t see coming. Especially after the backlash regarding the similarities between the plots of A New Hope and last year’s The Force Awakens.
EW will be doling out more bits of Rogue One over the course of the week. The hype for Rogue is reaching a fever pitch level as we close in on the film’s release in just over three weeks. My expectation is that pre-sale tickets will go on sale during Thanksgiving this week when Lucasfilm debuts a new featurette during the Disney Magical Holiday Celebration on ABC. We’ll get an exclusive look at Rogue One in what will most likely be a very short featurette offering a few glimpses of new footage interlaced with interviews from the cast. It would be a perfect opportunity to announce the availability of pre-sale tickets while families are together celebrating Thanksgiving.
EW has also revealed that Lucasfilm has a major meeting planned for this January where the brains behind the new generation of the Star Wars franchise will come together to plan out the future of the franchise beyond Episode IX.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters December 16, 2016.
Produced by Lucasfilm, the film stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelson, Donnie Yen, Alan Tudyk, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker with a script penned by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy. Directed by Garreth Edwards.
From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves. In theaters December 2016.
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