Star Wars enjoyed a fantastic comeback last year with the release of Episode VII: The Force Awakens and the enormous response it generated, but this December’s release of Star Wars: Rogue One will prove the real test for how much Star Wars audiences can handle or even want. The future of the franchise promises a new Star Wars film every year, and Rogue One is the first of them to depart from the saga’s traditionally episodic nature.
Star Wars: Rogue One is something of an “inbetweenquel,” taking place before the events of the original Star Wars film but many years after the prequel trilogy, and it centers on the Rebel’s heist to steal the plans for the Death Star – the very same plans Princess Leia will later hide inside R2-D2. Being so close to the original trilogy’s timeframe, we are expecting some familiar faces to appear, but the focus will be on the intrepid team of rebels undertaking the dangerous mission – and rightly so, they take center stage in this new teaser.
On Thursday during NBC’s broadcast of the 2016 Rio Olympics, a new trailer for Star Wars: Rogue One will debut, and in the grand tradition of today’s movie marketing, we have a short trailer for the upcoming trailer. Give it a watch, above.
Quite a few films this year have featured a whole roster of characters coming together to accomplish some goal – most recently in Suicide Squad and later this year in The Magnificent Seven. Rogue One will see Star Wars following that trend, and for this film, their line-up includes a real ragtag assortment – including a Rebel Intelligence Officer, a former Imperial pilot, an assassin, a deeply spiritual warrior, and a reprogrammed Imperial enforcer droid. At the head of the team is Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), a woman with a “checkered past” but just the right sort of attitude and skill the mission needs.
Along with a quick rundown of Rebel One‘s crew, the teaser for Thursday’s trailer also includes a look at the U-Wing featured earlier in a new still and that thrilling sequence of Erso and team on the ground, facing off against an AT-AT. Obviously, any new footage is being saved for the new trailer, so how much more will be revealed? Will a new trailer give a clearer indication of the film’s story? Or perhaps, our first tease of Darth Vader’s role? Tune into NBC’s Olympics broadcast on Thursday (or here soon after) to find out!
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens December 16, 2016, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII on December 15, 2017, the Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film on May 25, 2018, Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019, and the third Star Wars Anthology film in 2020.
