“It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.”
Sound familiar? It should. It’s part of the opening crawl for Star Wars: A New Hope, and it’s from this iconic prologue that John Knoll mined the original idea for Rogue One, Gareth Edwards’ anthology movie that blew past just about everyone’s expectations in its journey to Hollywood’s exclusive billion-dollar club.
Not only that, but Rogue One is a textbook example of carving out room in an established franchise to engineer a deeply compelling story that simultaneously pays homage to the brand and, perhaps most important of all, serves up an experience that is vastly different from the Star Wars films of old. Darth Vader notwithstanding, you won’t find any Jedi in Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars Story – even though the director came awfully close – nor will you find any mention of the Skywalker saga.
Not bad for a Disney blockbuster that began life as a throwaway line. But as John Knoll, Industrial Light & Magic’s Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, revealed to Screen Rant, he’s currently sitting on another spinoff idea set within the Star Wars universe, though whether or not he formally approaches Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy is another question entirely. Given Knoll was the one behind Rogue One‘s genesis, it’s fascinating to learn that he’s dreamed up another kernel of an idea. Does it involve characters from Gareth Edwards’ anthology movie? Who knows.
Per Screen Rant:
“I do have one more idea that I may or may not pitch. I’ve got it about 3/4 figured out and if I can solve that last portion of it, I’ll see if Kathy’s interested. She may throw me out of her office.”
After allegedly going through the wringer whilst the cameras were still rolling, when multiple endings were pitched to Gareth Edwards, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story made it out the other end relatively unscathed, and fans will be able to take the rebellion home via Blu-ray and DVD on April 4th.
