Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Nearly Featured Conversation Between Vader and Tarkin

The debut of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story brought with it many new and exciting characters, along with some surprising returns of well-known characters, including Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. The two villains were integral components of Star Wars: A New Hope, with the film’s animation supervisor taking to Twitter to reveal that one version of a specific scene was filmed with these characters in mind, though that interpretation of the sequence was scrapped. Sadly, Hickel also confirmed that this encounter will likely never see the light of day, as the exchange felt out of place in regards to the overall experience.

“Last Rogue memory for today,” Hickel shared alongside an image of the scene. When a fan asked if this exchange was meant to appear in the film, Hickel confirmed, “Yes, there was a conversation between Vader and Tarkin that ended up out of the film.”

Hickel then went on to detail to a fan who asked if the scene would ever be released, “Doubtful, it just didn’t fit in the final form that the film took. I don’t recall the dialog [sic], but maybe [writer Gary Whitta] does?”

Whitta then chimed in to explain, “I wrote scenes for Vader/Krennic and Tarkin/Krennic but not Vader/Tarkin. Chris [Weitz] or someone else must have added that after me.”

Of all of the Star Wars films developed by Disney, Rogue One arguably has the most alternate versions, as its reshoots are rumored to have substantially altered the overall structure of the narrative. Even based solely on the film’s trailers, multiple shots and sequences were either slightly modified for the theatrical release or scrapped and reimagined entirely. In some cases, the sequences were completed and then reimagined, while other sequences were abandoned early on.

While fans would surely love to see any new scenes from the film, Hickel noted that the sequence between Vader and Tarkin was quite rudimentary and might not be as fulfilling as audiences would like.

“I mean, I totally get the fan interest in deleted scenes, but those scenes don’t have completed VFX or anything,” Hickel confessed in a follow-up tweet. “Still, I know how excited I was the first time I saw the Tosche Station scene from [A New Hope].”

The Rogue One prequel series Star Wars: Andor is currently filming.

Do you wish this scene stayed in the film? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror.