As details pour out about all of the changes to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story from its pre-production to its theatrical cut, few of them have been leaving fans wanting for what could have been.
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Some of the cuts and alterations made for a much better film with a clearer focus, and thought it would have been interesting to see some of them on the big screen, the film is much better for what it is.
A simple criticism of the film is that it simply lacks an appearance from any Jedi, but there was a draft in the beginning that would have given the main character a strong connection to the Force.
According to director Gareth Edwards, one version of the script had a slightly different introduction that revealed Jyn Erso‘s mother was in fact a Jedi, and her final moments would serve as a connection between the events of Order 66 and the beginning of the Original Trilogy.
“The prologue, at one point a long time ago, was going to be the Empire coming to kill the Jedi,” Edwards said. “And Jyn’s mom was going to be a Jedi … We were witnessing one of those kills and Krennic would be the person sent to do it.”
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And while it might have been a cool scene in the beginning, a quieter moment amid the Emperor’s extinction campaign, it would have ultimately been a distraction throughout the entire film.
Because if Lyra Erso was a Jedi, doesn’t that mean Jyn would also be Force sensitive?
“Our instinct told us that we wanted a scene where Jyn is orphaned because of what Krennic does, which sets her on her path of being a child of war,” Edwards said. “The problem was that the second you make her mom a Jedi you spend the entire movie questioning whether Jyn is a Jedi or not. Eventually, we came up with the idea that her father should have designed the Death Star. That became a stronger way into the stealing of the Death Star plans. We let go of the mother being a Jedi, and she became just a rebellious mom.”
Gary Whitta and John Knoll’s early versions of the story still had Galen Erso as a scientist.
“We just had to pick a lane. We ended up feeling like her father should be the reason this thing existed,” Edwards said. “The guilt for that felt like better motivation in stealing the Death Star plans.”
The movie ultimately made for a better, more engaging experience with that strategic cut, sacrificing some of the more grandiose and mystical aspects of the Star Wars universe and replacing them with a sense of duty and faith. It made the tale much more grounded in human experience.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is now out on Digital HD and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 4.
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·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
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.
[h/t] EW
