Lucasfilm is about to introduce the world to the very first spin-off of the Star Wars franchise with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The film itself looks like an old novel from the expanded universe come to life with new characters and new ships that feel like a longtime fan stumbled back into his childhood bedroom and brought to life a story with his childhood Star Wars toys. While the experimental spin-off presents a major financial risk for Lucasfilm, Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill recently told Entertainment Tonight he thinks Rogue One has a major advantage over the Skywalker saga:
“I’ve only seen the trailers, and it looks fantastic. I can’t wait, yeah. They have a real advantage being able to go in and do a one-off story because you don’t have to follow the trilogy model of a three-act play. They can really get it done, get off, and leave the audience wanting more. They have a chance to make it their own identity. This one looks like a really gritty World War II film. They have a chance to really branch out and stake out the territory for themselves, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Hamill’s words have me extremely excited for the future of the Star Wars franchise. While Lucasfilm is playing it smart and safe, waiting until January to decide the future of the franchise based on the reaction to Rogue One, the future of Star Wars has limitless potential.
Next up will be Episode VIII continuing the Skywalker saga. Following that will be the second Star Wars spin-off, the untitled young Han Solo film which will feature Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, and Emilia Clarke in an unknown role. Beyond that things aren’t clear but there is a chance Lucasfilm could resurrect the Boba Fett spin-off which landed in development Lucasfilm removed Josh Trank from the project after Trank unprofessionally tweeted about the drama behind the failed Fantastic Four reboot.
What would be even better would be an Obi-Wan standalone feature. The potential film already has a ton of buzz behind it. Not only are fans clamoring for it. But Obi- Wan himself, Ewan McGregor is very interested in making the film a reality. He himself championed the idea of an Obi-Wan film during promotion for his directorial debut American Pastoral.
I personally would like an old republic spin-off, or even a trilogy telling the history of the war between the Jedi and the Sith. But I also think the old republic could work as a Netflix series or a mini-series in the vein of Game of Thrones. It would need a ton of money behind it so the shorter the amount of episodes the better.
Star Wars is why I fell in love with movies in the first place and right now it’s beyond exciting to be a Star Wars fan. When I went to the theater in 2005 to see Revenge of the Sith, I felt like I was saying goodbye to something that meant the world to me. I didn’t ask my parents if I could go to the midnight showing, I told them I was and there was nothing they could do to stop me. I would have stolen their car if I had to. George Lucas had said we would never see Episode VII come to fruition, especially not at the hands of another filmmaker. Never in a million years would I have ever thought that ten years later we would finally get to see not only the story beyond Return of the Jedi but that we would finally get to explore the galaxy outside of the Skywalker saga. Now with Grand Admiral Thrawn having become a reality and anything feeling like it could be possible at this point, I can’t help but have hope that Dash Rendar will someday return to canon whether it be in a film, book, or comic.
You can check out the full interview with Hamill below.
SOURCE: ET
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