The first teaser for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has leaked online, according to reports, and teases a dark time before the fall of the Galactic Empire.
The alleged teaser is rumoured to have been recorded on a phone at the Disney’s annual shareholder meeting – although we have our suspicions that this clip may not be from that meeting – and we won’t show the teaser here (boring legal reasons) but we will break down the short minute long clip.
It begins in total darkness, with the muffled sound of the iconic TIE fighter roar echoing around. Slowly, the words ‘December 2016’ fade into sight before fading out, and the camera begins to pull out revealing a lush green planet untouched by the titular wars.
Over this, an old man’s voice, who sounds suspiciously like Sir Alec Guinness, quotes the old Obi-Wan Kenobi line: “For more than a thousand generations the Jedi knights were the guardians of peace and justice, in the old republic before the dark times… before the empire.”
Just as the narrator reads ‘dark times,’ we can see a lone TIE fighter flying towards the imposing Death Star and a slow menacing version of the iconic Imperial March begins to play.
Finally, the screen fades to black and we can hear frantic shouts over a staticky radio before it’s suddenly cut off and the logo fades in.
Allegedly, one person in attendance sent a report to Slash Film on what else he saw while at the shareholders meeting.
He said:
Most of it was very quick. A shot of the black stormtrooper, possibly called Death Troopers as previously reported, another pic of that same style of helmet and armor but all chrome, reminiscent of Captain Phasma from The Force Awakens, an image showed two AT-ATs that had a slightly different look with the door panel on the side of the body painted a lighter beige color.
And a couple cast photos were shown, one of Felicity & Diego Luna and another of Donnie Yen. The clip featured Felicity’s character on what looked like the inside of a ship or shuttle with her arm up holding on and the hatch/ramp open behind her. I wish I could remember what she said as part of the sizzle but it went by too fast.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story tells the story of the brave rebels who stole the plans for the original Death Star, and is due for release on December 16, 2016.
The film is being directed by the wonderful Gareth Edwards, who previously said:
It [the story] comes down to a group of individuals that don’t have magical powers that have to somehow bring hope to the galaxy. It’s about the fact that God’s not coming to save us. The absence of the Jedi hangs over the movie.
The movie will star Felicity Jones, and is the first stand-alone anthology movie, with many more to come, including Han Solo and Boba Fett origin stories.
Let the Star Wars hype begin again!
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.