Rogue One Writer Reveals Film's Happier Alternate Ending

03/20/2017 06:00 pm EDT

There's been a lot said about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, reshoots, changes to the plot, and its supposed alternate ending. After director Gareth Edwards outright said there would not be deleted scenes on the home release, many fans were left wanting to know what the film could have been.

As if the headline wasn't an obvious giveaway, we are wading into SPOILER territory here so turn back if you must be protected from such diversions.

During our own discussion with writer Gary Whitta about the film, he revealed that the first version of the script didn't end with everyone dying but that he and Edwards both knew that tragic finale would work best for the story.

Whitta revealed what that ending consisted of over at Collider, giving us the best idea of a deleted scene that was never filmed.

In it, Whitta explained, only Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor survived, traveling down the beaches of Scariff with the Death Star plans where they are picked up by a Rebel transport. The ship, though, would be destroyed by Darth Vader's Star Destroyer in its attempt to flee.

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But the film would focus on the aftermath of the ship's destruction where an odd piece of metal is revealed.

"They got away in an escape pod just in time. The pod looked like just another piece of debris," Whitta said. "The transfer of the plans happened later. They jumped away and later [Leia's] ship came in from Alderaan to help them. The ship-to-ship data transfer happened off Scarif."

The ending would have left Erso and Andor's characters on the board for potential appearances or even a followup film, but such an ending would have cheapened the Rebel group's ultimate sacrifice. Whitta and Edwards pushed for the finale they had in mind, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy ultimately agreed.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will hit Digital HD on March 24 and then Blu-ray and DVD on April 4.

MORE ROGUE ONE NEWS: ·Han Solo Will Be "Completely Different" From Rogue One
·Whitta Can't Believe What Disney Let Him Get Away With
·Why Fans Will Never See Its Opening Crawl
·Why Carrie Fisher Was Taken Back By Leia's Cameo
·Darth Vader's Epic Scene Nearly Didn't Happen

Directed by Gareth Edwards, it's the first of the new standalone features from Lucasfilm and Disney, which take place outside the core "Skywalker Saga" of films noted by an Episode number. Rogue One tells the story of the small band of rebels that were tasked with stealing the plans to the first Death Star.

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