Your weekend edition of The Week in Star Wars is – predictably – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story heavy as we’ve got reviews, clips, TV spots and more…
Firstly, I would like to thank Gary and Oli for looking after The Week in Star Wars in my absence.
Let’s kick things off this week with some reviews for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. We first had Oli Davis’s ★★★★ review [read that here] saying: “the film manages an incredibly difficult feat – not only is the movie a solidly entertaining science-fiction/action film with depth, it’s also an entry in a franchise that elevates the instalments around it. Rogue One actually enhances the story of the original Star Wars.” Then we had our regular Star Wars Rebels reporter Chris Cooper’s ★★★★★ review [read that here] saying: “Edwards is a massive Star Wars fan and it shows. He’s given us what we wanted.” And finally, we’ve got Rob Kojder echoing Cooper’s ★★★★★ review [read that here] saying: “The ending is filled with both a bittersweet tragedy and hard-fought victory; ‘ a new hope’ is earned, and so is this film’s place in the upper echelon of Star Wars lore.” So, pretty positive so far – but what did you think?..
…Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill shared his thoughts on the movie [read those here], which of course leads into the film that launched his career. Hamill took to Twitter to say, “Perfect cast, astonishing action, non-stop thrills, grabs u (sic) from the 1st frame and never lets go!” Which is pretty high praise…
…Speaking of A New Hope, and director Gareth Edwards has spoken about using unused footage from the movie in Rogue One. We won’t post it here as it’s full of spoilers, but you can read that interview here…
…The film has also looking to have a strong opening weekend (although we won’t have the full numbers until later today), as the Thursday screenings brought home $60 million and added another $71 million from Friday showings. Once again, looks like the Flickering Myth Podcast bet about Rogue One vs. Fantastic Beasts is going to go my way…
…UPDATE: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opened to $290 million worldwide, slightly lower than the initial tracking. It did get the second biggest December opening of all-time, obviously behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “[We are] right where we wanted to be,” said Disney’s EVP of distribution Dave Hollis. “[Rogue One] did xactly what it needed to do as a litmus for the standalones going forward from a commercial and an artistic standpoint. It’s incredibly satisfying that it’s opened the way it has and gotten the reaction that it has despite pre-holiday distractions…”
…If you’ve not the seen the film yet, you can watch a clip from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story here, a TV spot here, an IMAX featurette here and some fantastic concept art here…
…Hot Toys has unveiled its next 1/6th scale collectible figure in Alan Tudyk’s K-2SO and you can take a look at the official promotional images here and pre-order from here. Hot Toys also released an animated short, which has been created using its 1/6th scale collectible figures and sees Donnie Yen’s Chirrut Imwe battling Imperial Stormtroopers; check it out here…
…That’s enough Rogue One: A Star Wars Story for now as we look ahead to Star Wars: Episode VIII, and we got some possible news about a trailer. Going by comments from Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, we will see something soon, but we shouldn’t expect to see anything until at least April or May 2017 saying, “We’re giving [Rogue One] a little bit of breathing room. Probably heading into spring, you’ll start to see things.” Can you wait that long?..
…In an interesting rumour, there was a report this week that suggested Supreme Leader Snoke would in fact be done with practical effects this time rather than the CGI used in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “It appears, at least in part, that Snoke will not be a character generated in a computer, the report read. “Instead he will be a huge puppet around seven to eight feet tall, taking several people to operate and a man inside a suit to make him walk. Stylistically, it seems as if Snoke may be CGI generated for the holographic communication sequences, but when he has scenes in Episode VIII next to real flesh-and-blood humans like Kylo Ren he will be a practical puppet with facial features operated by the crew…”
…The folks over at Honest Trailer brought us their take on Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, which you can watch here…
…Sideshow Collectibles has unveiled its limited edition Legendary Scale Star Wars Stormtrooper figure. Standing at an impressive 38″ tall – yes thirty-eight INCHES – the collectible is available to pre-order now here, priced at $2250.00 and is expected to ship November 2017-January 2018; check it out here…
…You can watch the Rebels Recon for the Star Wars Rebels midseason finale here…
…And finally, here’s your comic book preview for the week in Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #2: Aphra’s got debts to pay. But can she can stay one step ahead of the Empire, some Bounty Hunters and just about everyone else in the galaxy!?
That’s all for this week – may the Force be with you.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the co-host of The Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen and read his weekly feature The Week in Star Wars.
Originally published December 18, 2016. Updated November 30, 2022.
