Although Star Wars universe continued expanding with new films, adding even more characters and adventures to it.
Following the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, the studio began working on a new wave of films to further explore the Star Wars universe and bring closure to what’s known as the Skywalker saga. The Mouse House also attempted to start a new group of films that weren’t part of the saga but their stories complemented it by taking a look at other events that happened between episodes. The first of these was Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards and released in 2016.
The film followed Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), a young renegade whose father was taken by the Empire to help them complete the Death Star. After being detained for her crimes against the Empire, she was freed by the Rebel Alliance and ed them on a mission to steal the Death Star’s blueprints. Leia Organa. Now, during a virtual watch-along of the film with fans thanks to Cinefix, which included a Q&A session, writers Chris Weitz and Gary Whitta shared behind the scenes details about the film, and here’s every new reveal from the writers of Rogue One.
Rogue One’s Alternate Titles
The Rogue One went through many titles. Whitta said one of his contributions was “Shadow of the Death Star” and they were all “these kind of very fancy titles”. He then explained he turned to the previous Star Wars films and their titles and realized all of them are either three or four words long, so a way to differentiate the anthology films could be through their titles being one or two words long. Whitta added that, by having a shorter title, viewers would know that Rogue One is “something that doesn’t necessarily conform to the unwritten rules of the saga films”.
Jyn’s Origin Story Was Similar To Rey’s
As it happens with all films, characters and their backstories go through many changes, and a scavenger, very much like Rey. Of course, that idea couldn’t be, and Jyn Erso ended up being a soldier with a complicated past.
Leia’s Scenes Were Cut Because of Jyn
In order to keep some connection with the Star Wars saga, specifically Star Wars: A New Hope, Rogue One included a very brief cameo from Princess Leia at the end of the film, tying directly in with A New Hope. However, Leia originally appeared much earlier and in one of the film’s most important scenes. When the Rebellion is trying to decide what to do with the information they have about the Death Star, Jyn delivers a speech that has the unforgettable “rebellions are built on hope” line, but that moment originally belonged to Leia. Whitta and Weitz explained that the speech was given to Jyn because it was more impactful, and Leia’s appearance was then saved for the end.
Why iral Ackbar Didn’t Appear In Rogue One
As Rogue One is set before the events of A New Hope, many Star Wars fans were hoping to see a couple of characters from the original trilogy, among those the unforgettable iral Ackbar. The Mon Calamari soldier was introduced in Ackbar was included in the story, but director Gareth Edwards wanted to include more original characters, and so he was replaced with another Mon Calamari character, iral Raddus.
Rogue One Could Only Name One Planet
Edwards could only name one planet, and decided it would be Scarif, which is how a Starbucks’ barista interpreted Edwards’ first name. Scarif ended up being a tropical planet in the Abrion sector of the Outer Rim Territories, and played an important part in the Empire’s military-industrial complex. It was there where the Death Star battle station was developed, and it was such an important project that the planet was covered by a planetary deflector shield. Scarif was also where the battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire took place, and where Cassian, Jyn and company were killed.
Rogue One Originally Killed Only One Character
Rogue One introduced a group of new characters, and none of them made it past this film. The story originally ended with a wedding, possibly because they thought Disney wouldn’t allow them to kill everyone. When Whitta and Weitz were brought in, they had the idea of killing all main characters, but as it’s Disney they were dealing with, they Weitz explained that killing them felt necessary as none of these characters are ever mentioned or seen again, and it fitted the film’s theme about sacrifice.
