Regardless of how Rogue One: A Star Wars Story fares at the international box office – and judging by early forecasts, we’re inclined to believe it’ll do quite well indeed – don’t pin your hopes on Gareth Edwards to get the Rebel crew back together for a sequel.
Confirming what many had already assumed to be common knowledge, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy told Empire (via /Film) that there are no plans for Rogue Two as it would not only undermine Disney’s anthology format, but also because the sequel already exists: Star Wars: A New Hope. That’s something that director Gareth Edwards referenced in the same interview, stating that any follow-ups “will be directed by George Lucas.” Rogue One is a prequel first and foremost, one that is rumored to end directly where A New Hope began, so this should hardly come as much of a surprise.
Elsewhere on the Star Wars news cycle, Twitter has announced plans to stream a special Rogue One: A Star Wars Story event on Friday, December 2. Promising never-before-seen footage from the imminent actioner and even a Q&A with director Gareth Edwards, People Magazine will host said showcase from a “surprise location.” Expect things to kick off at 10am PT, and you can pitch questions to the film’s core cast – namely Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk and Riz Ahmed – using the hashtag ‘#AskRogueOne’.
Rogue One is due to launch on December 16. As the deluge of Star Wars news continues, earlier today we got a closer peek at the supporting alien characters to feature in Disney’s first anthology movie, while our own Sarah Myles wrangled the Star Wars lore into one coherent whole.