That’s what Making Star Wars has heard, anyway. Not sure we’ll get any big splash on it officially, due to the Mission Impossible situation, but here’s hoping.
Celebration Anaheim: Gareth Edwards, Rogue One and the ‘Anthology’ films
We got a decent look ahead at Rogue One today, as Lucasfilm gave us a description and a brief teaser trailer for Rogue One. We even got an official name for what we’ve been calling ‘spinoffs’ and ‘standalones:’ They’ll be ‘Anthology’ movies. The panel consisted of Pablo Hidaldo (doing his best Letterman act,) Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, Story Group lead Kiri Hart, director Gareth Edwards and ILM’s John Knoll, who originated the idea.
The trailer isn’t online yet and isn’t likely to (not officially, anyway) but here’s the description:
A band of resistance fighters unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans in Star Wars Anthology film, Rogue One.
Felicity Jones’ character is a Rebel soldier, and it’s set in the ROTS/ANH gap, though closer to ANH.
The teaser, which was produced by ILM since they won’t start filming until the summer, featured a pan across a forest, a TIE fighter, and a glimpse at the Death Star through the atmosphere. The voiceover was Obi-Wan’s lines about the Jedi from A New Hope, and “the absence of the Jedi is omnipresent in the film,” Edwards said. “It comes down to a group of individuals who don’t have magical powers that have to somehow bring hope to the galaxy.”
This will be very much a war movie, and the crew has people who’ve worked on Zero Dark Thirty, Saving Private Ryan, and Blackhawk Down. Edwards said he doubts he’ll ever be able to work with so many high caliber people again; Folks will drop anything to come work on Star Wars.
Pablo asked Edwards about his ‘geek cred,’ and Edwards revealed that he spent his 30th birthday going to Tunisia – even drinking blue milk at the Hotel Sidi Driss, where the Lars kitchen was filmed. There were pictures. They were adorable,
Josh Trank, who’s helming the next Anthology film, was “under the weather,” so we didn’t get anything for that.
Directors Gareth Edwards, Josh Trank to talk standalones at Celebration Anaheim
Rogue One director Gareth Edwards and Spin-off #2 director Josh Trank will talk Star Wars with Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy, Kiri Hart and Pablo Hidalgo on Sunday morning at Celebration. Dare we hope to actually learn something about their films?
Alexandre Desplat to score Rogue One
Composer Alexandre Desplat (who just won an Oscar for The Grand Budapest Hotel) revealed during an interview that he will be scoring Rogue One, according to Film Music Reporter. He’ll be only the second composer to work on Star Wars live-action, after John Williams.
Desplat also scored Rogue One director Gareth Edward’s Godzilla.
Scoring isn’t something I tend to have strong opinions on, but I do think it’s a smart move for them to go off the beaten path for the spin-off films.
First Star Wars spinoff film is Rogue One; Rian Johnson (and MAY 2017) confirmed for Episode VIII
StarWars.com confirms that the first standlone film will be called Rogue One.
Starring Felicity Jones, directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Chris Weitz, the story is based on an idea from John Knoll, who’s one of the executive producers. The film will shoot in London this summer and is due out December 16, 2016.
They’ve also (finally!) confirmed that Rian Johnson is writing and directing Episode VIII, which is set for May 26, 2017. A RETURN TO MAY!
Much of the personnel here we’ve already heard about, but the title Rogue One is our first detail that really points to what kind of film this will be. A female X-wing pilot? Bring it on.
Chris Weitz, Gary Whitta on the mysterious Star Wars spinoff
/Film talked to Chris Weitz, the new screenwriter for Spin-off #1. We don’t learn much (will this mystery box ever open?) but he does more or less confirm that Garry Whitta’s draft is still in play. When asked to compare it to Cinderella:
I think in this case I’m not working from a whole cloth, right? So there’s a very strong structure from Gary’s work and that’s a huge advantage to me. But just like with Cinderella, it’s a director’s medium so it’s really about my making what Gareth needs to do his film.
They also talked to Whitta a few weeks ago, something that got lost in the shuffle over here.
Report: Chris Weitz is the new writer for Spinoff #1
Chris Weitz is the new writer for Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars spinoff, The Hollywood Reporter says today. Weitz’s writing credits include About a Boy and Disney’s upcoming Cinderella. THR was the first to report that Gary Whitta had left after completing the first draft of the film.
The Weitz news comes despite reports from /Film and Cinelinx that Simon Kinberg would take over.
The first spin-off, which we recently heard was testing actresses Tatiana Maslany and the Mara sisters, is expected to begin filming at Pinewood in the spring for a December 2016 release.
Report: Tatiana Maslany, Rooney Mara testing for Star Wars spinoff
We’re months away from filming and there have been zero casting rumors regarding Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars spin-off, but that changed this evening. The Hollywood Reporter says that Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and Rooney Mara (David Fincher ‘s Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) are among those testing for a role.
Felicity Jones, who’s been hitting the Oscar circuit for The Theory of Everything, is also in the mix. UPDATE: As is Rooney’s sister, Kate Mara, per Variety’s Justin Kroll.
In any case, it’s pretty heartening that the first casting we hear for the spin-off is a woman – and Maslany especially is an exciting option that’s already giving this rumor a lot of buzz. (No matter which way this goes, you should really be watching Orphan Black.)
Making Star Wars has a bit more on the spin-off this evening, including that it may shot partly in Mexico and a few other (potentially spoilerly, though only broadly) bits.
Writer Gary Whitta moves on from first Star Wars spinoff
According to The Hollywood Reporter and Gary Whitta himself, his time on director Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars spinoff is up.
THR says there will be a new writer, but Lucasfilm isn’t naming anyone just yet. Whatever the case, this doesn’t appear to be quite as dramatic as what we saw with Michael Arndt* and Episode VII, and the new writer may very well just be tweaking Whitta’s script.
I don’t expect we’ll hear anything definitive until/if Lucasfilm chooses to give us their crew breakdown, assuming they follow a similar template to The Force Awakens‘ announcements… Though at this point, I’m not expecting anything until they actually begin filming. That’s expected to happen in a matter of months, given the December 16, 2016 release date.
* Granted, Michael Arndt was not on Twitter. Whitta is pretty awesome at it, Star Wars or no Star Wars.
Rumor: Star Wars spin-off #1 to start shooting in February?
Rumor: Spin-off #1 to start shooting as early as February? So hears Jedi News, in any case.