Category Archives: Rogue One

Star Wars: Rogue One Director Reveals The Prop Easter Egg Added By George Lucas

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Via Gamesradar.com:

Every fan on the planet has predicted there’s going to be some Star Wars Easter eggs in Star Wars: Rogue One. They’d be right to think so too, as director Gareth Edwards has already hinted in the new issue of Total Film magazine – on sale now – that there’s one item in particular people should look out for.

Although it wasn’t something he would have picked himself, when George Lucas says he likes a certain helmet lying around set, it’s not surprising that Edwards felt the certain urge to put it in the film.

It was clear from the beginning to Edwards that “whatever [Lucas] liked was pretty much guaranteed to be in the film,” as you would expect when the creator of a franchise which has gripped the imaginations of millions takes a tour around the Rogue One design department.

Edwards says that sitting in the department was “a helmet we loved but didn’t know where to put it; there wasn’t really an opportunity to use it”. But when Lucas was given a tour of the design department, the father of Star Wars “walked past it and went ‘That’s cool, I like that'”.

Unsurprisingly that led to a renewed determination to put the aforementioned mysterious helmet in the film, as the offhand comment by Lucas spurred Edwards into action, and at the mention of the helmet they “looked at each other like, ‘OK, we have to put that in the film!'”.

Sadly, Edwards stopped short of giving us a description of the helmet in question so it’ll be hard to spot in the movie, but hopefully he’ll let us in on which one it is after the movie is released.

Directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, and Alan Tudyk, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is scheduled to open in UK on December 15, 2016 and in the US a day later.

Rogue One Droid K-2SO Was Inspired By The Imperial Viper Scout

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Via ew.com:

We’ve seen plenty of droids in the Star Wars universe, but none like the redemption-seeking Imperial security robot K-2SO in next month’s Rogue One.

Although… we’ve met his cousins.

The character, Kaytoo to his friends, is part of the Rebel team trying to steal the original Death Star plans in the film (out Dec. 16), and he was brought to life by actor Alan Tudyk using performance capture technology. This freed the design from having to make room for a flesh-and-blood human within the metal framework, allowing Kaytoo to take on a much taller and more skeletal shape.

“He’s tall, to intimidate people around him” says John Knoll, the executive producer and visual effects supervisor for Rogue One (who also first pitched the idea for the story). “He’s sort of anthropomorphic, in that he’s got two arms, two legs and a head, you know, et cetera… But then Kaytoo has a little bit more sinister aspect in his original design because he starts off as an Imperial enforcer droid.”

The goal was to create an original droid while incorporating elements from the past. “It’s not the first time we’ve seen an Imperial droid,” Knoll says. “There’s the Imperial probe droid and the sort of interrogation droid that have these black shells and a kind of sinister, evil-looking character to them.”
Specifically, Kaytoo is an offshoot of the Viper droid, seen scanning the surface of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back (pictured above) and the IT-O Interrogator, the spherical torture-bot unleashed by Darth Vader on Princess Leia in 1977’s original Star Wars (seen below).

Just like humans in a time of political conflict, Kaytoo no longer sees eyepiece-to-eyepiece with his relatives who stayed loyal to the other side.

The filmmakers also went back to some unused imagery from original Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie. “Some of the McQuarrie designs for droids and the original Stormtrooper helmets influenced where his head ended up,” Knoll said.

Although he still looks like any other Imperial droid, and can blend in for undercover operations, Kaytoo’s mechanical heart beats hard for the Rebellion.

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE MISSION BRIEFING MONDAY – SET 2 FROM TOPPS

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STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE MISSION BRIEFING MONDAY – SET 2 (5 CARDS)

THIS WEEK’S TOPPS STAR WARS ROGUE ONE MISSION BRIEFING MONDAY FEATURES FIVE SUBJECTS (LISTED BELOW) ON THE RETRO-STYLE DESIGN INSPIRED BY THE ORIGINAL 1977 TOPPS STAR WARS BLUE STARFIELD. THESE TRADING CARDS INCLUDE IMAGES FROM THE FILM PLUS CHARACTER BIOGRAPHIES. SEE BELOW FOR THE FIRST CHECKLIST…

CHECKLIST

JYN ERSO (MBM CARD NO. MBM-1)
STORMTROOPERS (MBM CARD NO. MBM-2)
SCARIF (MBM CARD NO. MBM-3)
IMPERIAL ASSAULT TANK (MBM CARD NO. MBM-4)
ADMIRAL RADDUS (MBM CARD NO. MBM-5)
EACH MONDAY TOPPS WILL RELEASE A CARD SET FEATURING CHARACTERS, VEHICLES AND LOCATIONS FROM THE NEW FILM STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE. NEW CARD SETS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE EVERY MONDAY FOR ONE WEEK AT A TIME PRIOR TO THE RELEASE OF THE STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE MOVIE!

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2016-11-15-15_54_27-star-wars_-rogue-one-mission-briefing-monday-set-2

Interview With Donnie Yen

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Via Jetsetmag.com:

After Samuel L. Jackson met his co-star Donnie Yen on the set of the new xXx movie, he quickly took to Instagram. “Hanging with @donnieyenofficial, I can finally say I worked with Da Man!!!” Jackson wrote, beaming. “I’m officially Geeking Out!” “Geeking out” is what happens when fervent martial arts fans encounter the legendary actor, producer, director, and choreographer — whether they’re an average joe, or the highest-grossing actor of all time. When I told people I was interviewing Yen, they gave either one of two responses: “Who?” or something quite similar to Jackson’s unbridled superlative. There is no middle ground. Either you know who he is and adore him, or you’ve never heard of him.

But with two major American films on the horizon — the aforementioned Vin Diesel sequel, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, early next year, and what could quite possibly be the biggest movie of this year, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, on December 16th — it seems like the category of people who don’t know Yen’s name could soon been rapidly diminishing. In China, it’s already a much different story. Arguably the country’s biggest action star, Yen made over $28 million there in 2013 and is a borderline cultural icon. The consensus is that now is his time to follow in the footsteps of his forbearers like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li and crossover and become a superstar in the States.

I first meet him in the lobby of his Beverly Hills hotel. He is over an hour late. It isn’t his fault — his photo shoot ran late — but he apologizes profusely nevertheless. From the moment I shake his hand, he is humble, articulate, and introspective; I find him immediately captivating. He’s 5′ 8″, but like most true movie stars, feels larger, and with his stunner shades and form-fitting designer graphic tee, he looks every bit the part. We quickly make our way to a quiet booth in the back of the hotel restaurant and Yen requests a drink menu. “You want champagne?” he asks me in a polite but assertive way. “Sure.” How can I say no to Donnie Yen?

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