Tag: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Well, we’ve got good news and bad news. It all depends on how you look at it. The Disney executives that viewed the first cut of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” really saw some  things that they did not like and the reshoots are a lot bigger than what I was expecting.

According to MakingStarWars.com:

• Some crew initially heard J.J. Abrams was supervising the reshoots.
• Gareth Edwards is doing the reshoots himself but with a partner, Christopher McQuarrie.
• Christopher McQuarrie, the final writer on Rogue One will be working extensively with Edwards onset to make sure they’re on the “same page” with the most recent draft of the film.
• Christopher McQuarrie’s draft of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was considered superior to the film they shot previously.
• It was not Edwards’ fault as McQuarrie’s draft wasn’t completed when much of the film was shot and revisions kept coming in that made the film feel uneven.
• 32 sets have been recreated for the reshoot.
• The crew expects they are reshooting 40% of the film.
• They are working 6 days a week for 8 weeks.

They are reshooting 40% of the film and for two months? That’s a lot! They are bringing in J.J. Abrams to help with the reshoots? I don’t think they would do so if there were not some major issues. And for the “Star Wars Story” not to be finished while they were filming, sounds like they may have been rushing things.

Yes, it seems bad but the good thing is they are addressing the issues, taking things seriously and it makes me feel better to know that Abrams is supervising the reshoots.

Will the movie be delayed? “Rogue One” is scheduled to be released on December 16th. If they cant work all of this out in two months, it has a strong possibility. Let’s hope that things work out but I would rather them delay the film if it’s not all that it could be then be stuck with a bad movie.

Source: Making Star Wars

Disney executives have viewed the first cut of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and feel that the film does not live up to expectations. The film will undergo reshoots this summer in order to address issues before it’s December 16th release date. With this being the first “Star Wars” spinoff film, it has to establish a good precedent and Disney does not want to leave anything to chance.

From Page Six:

One Hollywood source told us, “The execs at Disney are not happy with the movie, and ‘Rogue One’ will have to go back into four weeks of expensive reshoots in July.”

‘Rogue One’ has fallen short of what J.J. Abrams did with ‘Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.’ So Disney has ordered reshoots.”

Gareth Edwards is well-known as a risk-taking director, but has also been reported to prefer to keep studio influence at a minimum. The source added, “Disney won’t take a back seat, and is demanding changes, as the movie isn’t testing well.”

A Disney source added, “The filmmaking team and the studio always anticipated additional shooting and second unit work to make the film the absolute best it can be, and the actors were aware there would be additional shooting. Coming off The Force Awakens, there’s an incredibly high bar for this movie and we have a responsibility to the franchise and to the fans to deliver the best possible movie we can.”

Source: New York Post

An official preview of the “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: The Official Guide” has been released and it has some never before seen information about new characters, new vehicles and even the big guy himself: Darth Vader. So if you had any doubts about whether Darth Vader was going to be in “Rogue One, he’s in it.

Below are some preview images along with descriptions courtesy of /Film:

The official companion book to fall’s most anticipated release of Star Wars Rogue One. Never-before-seen interviews, images and teasers from this major motion picture. Detailed, in-depth character profiles, iconic vehicles, weaponry and droids. Lucas Films proudly presents the official companion book to this fall’s most anticipated release of Star Wars Rogue One. Featuring never-before-seen interviews, images and teasers from this major motion picture. Experience all the thrills with detailed, in-depth character profiles, iconic vehicles, weaponry and droids you’ve been looking for. Featuring 160 pages of action-packed photos and content, this official Lucasfilm collector’s book is a must-have for every Star Wars fan.

Character Names:

• Felicity Jones plays Jyn Erso , a highly skilled soldier and warrior.
• Diego Luna plays Captain Cassian Andor , an officer in the Rebel Alliance.
• Jiang Wen plays Baze , a freelance assassin
• Riz Ahmed plays Bodhi, a rebel soldier.
• ??? plays Pao , an alien who is described as a “fierce warrior”. Looks like another computer generated character.
• Donnie Yen plays Chirrut, who is described as “a spiritual warrior.”
• ???? plays Bistan, another CG-looking alien who is also described as “fierce warrior”.

Most interesting is we now know what computer generated character Alan Tudyk plays in the film, an imperial model K-250 enforcer droid. While most of the text on this page is filler, it does appear that the droid character was a former Empire security droid who somehow joins the film’s group of rebel fighters on this daring heist.

Another page reveals information on one of the Imperial villains: Ben Mendelsohn plays Director Krennic, a military director for the Empire. Yeah, not very much there but it appears that his job is to prevent the rebellion from getting the Death Star plans which should make him the main villain of the film even though a couple of these pages confirms that Darth Vader will make some kind of appearance.

New Vehicles:

The book also confirms some new vehicles on both sides of this war, including an Imperial TIE Striker and a Rebel Starfighter, “a versatile rebel alliance craft that balances speed with the firepower of proton torpedo launchers.” Both look cool and feel like they would definitely fit in during the New Hope era even though we didn’t see them in the original trilogy.

Source: /Film

Back in 2012 when Disney purchased Lucasfilm and Star Wars from George Lucas for $4 billion, it was obvious that Disney was going to find a way to bring back the face of the Star Wars franchise. Even though Disney and Lucasfilm are doing their best to keep it under wraps, Darth Vader will be making his return in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”.

Now according to Flickering Myth, we have a face and a name to go with the actor who will portray The Dark Lord Of The Sith in the upcoming Prequel to “Star Wars: A New Hope.” His name is Spencer Wilding and he is mostly a stunt actor but he will seem a little familiar to you if you saw “Guardians Of The Galaxy” (see below).

Dueling Darths: David Prowse and Spencer Wilding

Wilding is 6 feet 7 inches and 43 years old, and to me, this is what I always imagined Anakin Skywalker looking like. Kind of like a young David Prowse, the original actor to play Darth Vader under the costume.

From Flickering Myth:

It was reported last year that the Sith Lord would feature in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and that Hayden Christensen would be reprising the role for the movie. We teased last month that the rumour was correct, but Christensen would not be playing the part. That’s because our sources are telling us that in fact British actor Spencer Wilding has been cast to play the body of Darth Vader in Rogue One.

Our source also confirms that Wilding has been running lines while on set, so Darth Vader will have a speaking role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However he will likely be dubbed by James Earl Jones just as David Prowse was when he played Vader in the Original Trilogy. We sadly don’t have confirmation that Jones will be coming back to reprise his role, but it seems rather likely (Making Star Wars were very sure though, and they’re a good source to trust).

Don’t be surprised to see a glimpse of Darth Vader in the next trailer for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”.

Spencer Wilding in “Guardians Of The Galaxy”

Source: Flickering Myth

Lucasfilm has just released the first teaser trailer for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”. Get a first look at some new heroes and villains, and some old ones too!

Lucasfilm announced today that their first film in the new standalone Star Wars stories series, “Rogue One,” has begun principal photography. Gareth Edwards (“Godzilla,” “Monsters”) is directing “Rogue One,” which tells the story of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans to the dreaded Death Star. The film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and is slated for a December 16, 2016 release.

The filmmakers have assembled a stellar cast, including Felicity Jones, nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in “The Theory of Everything”; Diego Luna, who was featured in 2008’s Oscar-winning “Milk” and the critically acclaimed “Killing Them Softly”; Ben Mendelsohn, recently nominated for an Emmy for his leading role in “Bloodline” and co-starring  in the upcoming “Mississippi Grind”; Donnie Yen, Hong Kong action star and martial artist who starred in “Ip Man” and “Blade II”; Jiang Wen, who co-wrote, produced , directed and starred in the award-winning “Let the Bullets Fly” and “Devils on the Doorstep”; Forest Whitaker, recently featured in the critically-acclaimed Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” and winner of an Academy Award® for his leading role in 2006’s “The Last King of Scotland; Mads Mikkelsen, who starred in “The Hunt” and was the memorable villain from 2006’s “Casino Royale”;  Alan Tudyk,  who plays a performance-capture character in “Rogue One,” stars in the soon-to-be-released “Con Man” series and “Trumbo,” which releases this November; and Riz Ahmed, who was recently featured in “Nightcrawler” and starred in the BAFTA-winning film “Four Lions.”

“‘Rogue One’ takes place before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope and will be a departure from the saga films but have elements that are familiar to the Star Wars universe,” says Kathleen Kennedy. “It goes into new territory, exploring the galactic struggle from a ground-war perspective while maintaining that essential Star Wars feel that fans have come to know. Gareth is such an innovative director and I’m so excited to be working with him and the extraordinary ensemble cast he’s selected for ‘Rogue One.’”

Veteran ILM visual effects supervisor John Knoll, who shares a long history with the Star Wars movies, dating back to the mid-1990s, originated the idea for the movie. Allison Shearmur (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Cinderella”), John Knoll, Simon Emanuel (“The Dark Knight Rises,” “Fast & Furious 6”) and Jason McGatlin (“Tintin,” “War of the Worlds”) are executive producers. Kiri Hart and John Swartz (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) are co-producers.

To create the lived-in, realistic feel of “Rogue One,” Edwards chose Greig Fraser (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “Foxcatcher”) to be his director of photography and Neil Corbould (“Black Hawk Down,” “Gladiator,” “Saving Private Ryan”) to be his special effects supervisor.  Star Wars and Lucasfilm veteran Doug Chiang (“Star Wars: Episodes I-II,” “Forrest Gump”) and Neil Lamont (supervising art director for the “Harry Potter” series, “Edge of Tomorrow”) will be the production designers. Additional crew members will include stunt coordinator Rob Inch (“World War Z,” Marvel’s “Captain America: The First Avenger”), creature effects supervisor Neal Scanlan (“Prometheus”) and co-costume designers Dave Crossman (costume supervisor for the “Harry Potter” series, “Saving Private Ryan”) and Glyn Dillon (costume concept artist for “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” “Jupiter Ascending”).

According to BadassDigest.com, Darth Vader will make an appearance in the upcoming Star Wars spinoff movie, “Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One”. This has not been officially confirmed from Disney or Lucasfilm, but it sure makes sense.

“Rogue One” is a prequel (sorry for saying that word) to “Star Wars: A New Hope” and if the main story is about a group of heroes trying to steal the plans for the Death Star, I am sure that Darth Vader will somehow play a part in the movie. Hopefully Darth Vader will have a bigger role than just a holo projection image but for now we’ll just have to wait until December 16, 2016 when “Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One” opens to find out.

From Badass Digest:

Hopefully this weekend at Comic-Con we will get some more information about the film, but in the meantime I have a tiny tidbit to share. I ran into a good source this past weekend and, over drinks, was told a nugget that should make people pretty intrigued: Darth Vader will be in Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One. He will not be the main antagonist but he will be working behind the scenes, pulling strings and will appear onscreen. Literally, I’m told – he’ll be showing up via viewscreen or holo projection or something. Will our heroes actually run into the Dark Lord of the Sith in person? My source wouldn’t say. My source was also mum about Grand Moff Tarkin, who was of course the commander of the fully operational Death Star.

Source: Badass Digest