‘Rogue One’ Tickets Now Available

The day has finally come! Pre-sale tickets for the upcoming Star Wars spin-off Rogue One: A Star Wars Story are now available. To celebrate, Lucasfilm dropped another TV spot right at midnight officially announcing the availability of pre-sale tickets. Chances are if you are reading this, tickets have already sold out in your area.

The latest TV spot gives us new glimpses of the Death Star, what appears to be the destruction of Jedha, and new shots from the climactic battle on Scariff. The presence of Vader looms over the spot with the sound of his breath coming from his respirator. It all leads up to the screams of war followed by a hammering version of the Imperial March.

This weekend also saw the confirmation of the film’s runtime at 133 minutes via Lucasfilm creative executive Pablo Hidalgo. The film falls right in the middle of runtimes for Star Wars films. Episodes IV-VI clocked in at 121, 124, and 131 minutes. The prequel trilogy ran slightly longer with runtimes for Episodes I-III at 133, 142, and 140 minutes. Episode VII, the first film in this new era of Star Wars, had a runtime of 135 minutes.

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. Written 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.

SOURCE: LUCASFILM

Ben Mendelsohn Talks Darth Vader and Krennic

In just three weeks the upcoming Star Wars spin-off Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be here. The first standalone feature film in the Star Wars franchise is a direct prequel to the original classic Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The film follows Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and a band of rebel spies as they defy the odds, managing to steal the Death Star plans out from the Empire just as construction on the superweapon is being completed.

Spearheading the development of the Death Star is Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). Krennic is specifically the director of advanced weapons research for the Imperial military. Think of him like a sinister Steve Jobs. He’s the man with the vision, but not necessarily the brains to realize the vision itself.

Krennic is a very unorthodox Imperial officer. He wasn’t born on Coruscant (most are) and he carries a blaster (none do). He’s a “working class” officer, as described by the film’s director Garreth Edwards. Edwards recently revealed Krennic has managed to work his way up the ranks “through sheer force of personality and ideas”. But unfortunately for Krennic, he’s hit the glass ceiling in the Empire and he’s counting on the Death Star operating at full power to take him to the next level.

As smart as Krennic is, he’s rather ignorant to the force. His ideas have gotten him far, but he’s still considered to be a small minded person with a limited understanding of the universe by the sith lord Darth Vader. As we already know, Vader was never impressed with the Death Star. But Vader follows orders from Emperor Palpatine and in Rogue One, Vader is tasked with overseeing the completion of the galactic superweapon after Krennics lack of progress has left the Emperor most displeased.

While speaking with Empire Magazine, Mendelsohn spoke about the dynamic between his character Krennic and Darth Vader:

“It’s fair to say Lord Vader and he aren’t friendly. Darth is very much about the Force. Krennic is force. Not really down with the whole mystical thing.”

Mendelsohn went further:

“He is truly a man that has made his own way up the chain through his own abilities. His weapon, for instance, is a very old type of blaster, because he’s an old warrior dude. He’s been put in charge of making this thing happen. And it’s gonna get done!”

We know the Death Star will be fully operational by the time of A New Hope, but whether or not Krennic is still alive by then remains to be seen.

Empire has also released a new photo of Krennic from Rogue One. The picture has me a bit curious as Mendelsohn’s hair is slightly longer and styled differently from everything else we have seen of his character. Could this still be from the reshoots? Or is it more likely to be from the flashback in the film? The flashback is set 15 years prior to the main plot sees Krennic coerce Jyn Erso’s father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) into providing his talents to help him construct the Death Star.

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. Written 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.

SOURCE: EMPIRE

‘Rogue One’: International Trailer #3 Will Leave You Screaming

Take cover people! Lucasfilm just dropped another international trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It’s essentially a mashup of the last few trailers but it contains some brief new footage including a hilarious bit between Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) as well as some shots from the climactic space battle over Scariff that will leave you screaming just like the X-wing pilot seen in previous trailers. If you don’t want to see any more footage from the film I would suggest not watching, but if you love Star Wars and can’t help yourself like me, enjoy!

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.

Garreth Edwards On Challenges of Rogue One; New Photos Released

One of the biggest questions going into Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is how will director Garreth Edwards manage to capture the tension of the rebels spies stealing the Death Star being that we know they will succeed but most likely meet their demise before it’s all over. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Edwards explained that rather than focusing on the film’s ending, the bigger challenge was determining just where to begin the story in a way that gets us invested in the new characters and still manages to fit into the Skywalker saga as the film will lead us up to the moments before the original classic A New Hope begins with Darth Vaders Star Destroyer, “The Devastator” chasing down Princess Leia on board the Tantive IV attempting to escape from the Empire with the newly stolen plans for the Death Star.

“The thing every [filmmaker] typically struggles with is ‘How does it end?’” says director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla). “But we knew how our film was going to end. Our problem became ‘How do we reverse engineer from that and know where to start?’ You’ve got a finite number of options and you go through them all like a puzzle to find the one that’s going to lead to the strongest result.” One of the most important pieces: Darth Vader, back to menace the deep reaches of space once again.

Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) are briefed along with Rebel pilots and soliders at the Rebel base on Yavin IV as they embark on their mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. (Image via Entertainment Weekly)

Edwards also spoke with USA Today about the origin of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), who’s father we know was taken away from her at a young age as he was the main scientist forced by the Empire to help develop the technology that powers the super weapon of the Death Star. The director explained Erso does have similarities to Luke Skywalker in that they are both initially reluctant heroes, however. The path that Erso will follow will be a very different one from the Jedi Master.

Events take place that just shatter her life and send her off to basically be raised as a soldier in the midst of a war. She ends up not the person she was supposed to be. Even though we’re not telling the story of Luke Skywalker, it was important to me that we capture the same themes and emotion, but the film doesn’t unfold how you think. It’s not the same path as Star Wars.

Jyn Erso and K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), the former Imperial security droid who has been reprogrammed to assist the Rebels in their mission. (Image via USA Today)

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters December 16, 2016.

SOURCES: EW, USA TODAY (VIA SCREENRANT)

‘Rogue One’ Director Explains How Director Krennic Fits in With The Empire

Since the main antagonist for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) was revealed, fans have wondered just how the character would fit into the pre-existing hierarchy of the Empire first introduced in the original classic A New Hope back in 1977.

In an interview with USA Today, director Garreth Edwards divulged just exactly where Krennic stands with the Empire.

[Krennic] hits a brick wall in the hierarchy where they won’t let him in the club and it’s going to turn into a them-or-us situation: either Krennic or Tarkin and the others.

Edwards also added that Krennic is a “working-class” Imperial officer who ascended to his position “through sheer force of personality and ideas”.

Krennic hitting the brick wall or glass ceiling means that the character was most likely born in the outer rim of the galaxy. Fans who read the books know the Empire is extremely prejudiced against non-human species or those born outside the inner rim of the galaxy. Where is this guy from, Jelucan? One thing is for sure, he wasn’t born on Coruscant.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters December 16, 2016.

Head on over to USA Today read more of the interview with Edwards including a brief account of what it like shooting a scene with Mendelsohn opposite Darth Vader.

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.

SOURCE: USA TODAY

‘Rogue One’ Final Trailer Music

In case you loved the music in the final Rogue One trailer as much as I did, you’ve probably been trying to find it on the internet. The track is titled “Machinations” and was created by a trailer music company called Ninja Tracks. It doesn’t include the force theme vocals heard in the final trailer but it’s still great. Enjoy!

Incredible Fan Made ‘Rogue One’ Super Trailer

Science vs. Cinema has put together an incredible six-minute supercut featuring footage from every Rogue One trailer released thus far.

I feel like I have seen the entire movie at this point but anyone who still has doubts about the film because of the infamous reshoots should watch this. The supercut gives you a sense of how the film is going to flow — almost beat for beat in the scene where Jyn Erso is briefed on her Father’s involvement with the creation of the original Death Star. Bottom line: it looks absolutely incredible. Garreth Edwards seems to have made something worthy of being not just the first spin-off, but the backstory detailed in the opening crawl of A New Hope as well.

It’s fan made though so don’t expect a high production value. Some of the editing is a bit wonky as it’s cutting together scenes from multiple trailers into one but it’s easily forgivable. Prepare for your mind to be blown.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters December 16, 2016.

SOURCE: SCIENCE VS. CINEMA, SLASHFILM

Mads Mikkelsen on ‘Rogue One’ and ‘Doctor Strange’ Roles

In an interview with GQ, actor Mads Mikkelson of the upcoming Doctor Strange and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story talked about the differences between his roles in the two blockbusters, what it was like to work on the enormous sets of Rogue, and even let a minor detail slip about Jyn Erso when commenting on what it was like to work with actress Felicity Jones.

Oh, it was great. I worked a few days with Felicity Jones and she is a wonderful actress. I worked with Jyn at three stages, and three different ages, so there was a little kid that was four, one that was eight, and then there was Felicity. So that was wonderful. I spent a lot of time with Ben Mendelsohn and that was hilarious. He’s a very funny man and he makes the day just fly by.

It isn’t a big deal but we now know we will see Jyn at four years old in addition to the ages seen in the trailers released thus far.

The actor described how incredible the sets were that Lucasfilm constructed for the film:

Well, it was great. Obviously it’s a gigantic set compared to the stuff I’m used to doing back in Europe, especially in Denmark. But, you make it a small, intimate set as well, in terms of the scenes. You just have to make the scene work even though you’re standing on a gigantic landing air force platform or wherever you are. Obviously it’s gigantic, but you try to make it small within the terms you’re working with.

Mikkelsen also talked about the differences between working on each production and the physicality required for his role as the villain Kaecilius in Doctor Strange:

Well, another big film, another big set – again, a gigantic set. A supreme cast as well. I had quite a different physicality: I was extremely physical in the Doctor Strange film; not so much on the Star Wars film, Rogue One. I think that might just have been the most physical film I’ve ever done. Something I would have embraced heavily when I was 16, but I had to do it when I was 50, which I loved – it’s a childhood dream to do flying Kung Fu and we did that a lot.

It’s quite the year for the actor who first broke onto the scene with his villainous role in Casino Royale. This winter will his stardom will rise to new heights as he is now part of the two most successful franchises in history. His role in Rogue ties him to the original classic Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope as the scientist who invented the original Death Star.

To read the full interview including his thoughts on what it means to be the new face of Ford head on over to GQ.

Doctor Strange hits theaters November 4, 2016. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story drops a month later on December 16, 2016.

SOURCE: GQ

Felicity Jones Talks ‘Rogue One’ on BBC Radio 1

While promoting her upcoming film Inferno, Felicity Jones spoke with Grimmy on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast show about the life changing experience of starring in a Star Wars film and acting opposite a giant monkey with a blaster (Bistan) in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

The actress mentions how cool and bizarre it was to go home after spending the day talking to her tentacled friend we saw in the trailer released yesterday. Jones also added that she has seen parts of the film and that it’s “really cool.”

SOURCE: BBC RADIO 1

Felicity Jones on ‘Rogue One’ Reshoots

 

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, actress Felicity Jones discusses her upcoming films Inferno, A Monster Calls, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Only two short months from now Jones will lead Lucasfilm into their first outing from the Skywalker saga with the experimental spin-off.

The film tells the story of Jyn Erso (Jones) and a band of rebel spies as they embark on a mission to steal the plans of the original Death Star described in the first paragraph of the opening crawl to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Rogue will serve as a direct prequel to the original classic and lead right up to the moments before Princess Leia’s Tantive IV is captured by Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer, “The Executor”.

Jones told THR her biggest inspiration for Jyn was Florence Welch of the british rock band Florence + The Machine. She spent hours watching music videos by the group as she crafted who the character was and describes the physicality Florence brings to her performances as her inspiration for the physicality she brought to the role.

So much of Jyn is movement. It became a very important part of finding her. She walks almost a bit like a caged animal. Her fight sequences become like dances.

In the trailers, Jones can be seen as she storms a beach crawling with AT-AT’s. The film has her taking on stormtroopers head to head, leaping from one piece of a set to another, and even coming face to face with a TIE Fighter as she smuggles the plans that the Rebel Alliance will later use when Luke Skywalker makes his attack run on the Death Star.

THR also managed to slide in a burn about the the film’s notorious reshoots which is getting old at this point and is just flat out ignorant. Jones commented on the controversy surrounding the film going back into production this past June.

Obviously when you come to the edit, you see the film come together and you think, ‘Actually, we could do this better, and this would make more sense if we did this. I’ve done it so many times. I mean, you wouldn’t just give your first draft on this story, would you?

Every blockbuster has reshoots.

What may have once been a reaction to pieces of a film not working is now part of the production, built into the schedule and the budget from the beginning. The difference with Rogue and what makes it concerning is that director Tony Gilroy was brought in to handle the reshoots rather than the film’s director Garreth Edwards. There was a lot of talk about Lucasfilm being dissatisfied with the tone of the film saying it wasn’t Star Wars enough. Rogue — from its initial conception was to be a war film. The trailers released for the film thus far evoke vibes of Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, and Apocalypse Now. My fear is that the film will suffer from a tonal clash. One train being derailed by another because of bad feedback from a focus group. At what point does Edwards’ vision and intention become compromised? Will the levity Star Wars is known for mix well with what Edwards has crafted?

To read the full interview with Jones where she also discusses her reluctance to join Inferno as well as the loss of her former co-star Anton Yelchin, head on over to THR.

Rogue One hits theaters December 16, 2016.