The first teaser trailer for "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is finally here. You can check it out in all of its Rebel Alliance glory below.
Many have been wondering when we'd get a glimpse of the first "Star Wars" anthology film with just eight months to go until its release. After all, Lucasfilm teased fans with the first trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" a full 13 months before the movie was set to be released. But now we finally have our first look at "Rogue One" (with a full trailer coming with next month's release of "Captain America: Civil War") and it looks good.
The studio's timing couldn't have been better as "The Force Awakens" became available on DVD/Blue-ray just two days ago (April 5). Lucasfilm, despite not having a movie in theaters at the moment, is dominating the news cycle. Someone in their marketing department deserves a raise.
Gareth Edwars ("Godzilla") is directing the prequel set just before "Star Wars: A New Hope" and the movie follows a group of Rebel soldiers tasked with stealing the plans for the first Death Star. You know, the same plans that end up with R2-D2 and lay the groundwork for the entire original trilogy. No big deal.
"Rogue One" will be the first "Star Wars" film not to prominently feature Jedi (though a Darth Vader cameo has been rumored) and the first not to be directly connected to an ongoing story. This is a standalone movie with connections to the greater "Star Wars" universe.
Kudos to Edwards and Lucasfilm for putting together such a diverse cast for "Rogue One." Academy Award nominee Felicity Jones will play the lead, Jyn Erso, and will be joined by Diego Luna, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Jonathan Ariz, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk and Ben Mendelsohn.
In terms of box office, "Rogue One" won't be making anywhere close to the $2 billion-plus that "The Force Awakens" posted, but it also won't have to perform that well to be considered a successful hit. The third-biggest December opening behind "The Force Awakens" and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is the $77 million domestic weekend of "I Am Legend" which led to $585 million worldwide. If "Rogue One" can come anywhere close to the half-billion mark, it will be a big win for the studio.
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" will open on Dec. 15, 2016.
Follow Brandon Katz at @Great_Katzby
