Rogue One may not have the Bothans (a long story for another day), but it did make the daring move of marching the narrative right up to the beginning of Star Wars: A New Hope, ending just 10 minutes before the events of the first Star Wars film. Now, in a spark of genius, a fan has spliced Darth Vader’s rebel-thrashing fit of rage and the digitally recreated 1977 Princess Leia scenes at the end of the movie right into the dramatic beginning of the Star Wars saga, which you can see in the video above.
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The new fan footage has exceptional timing: Rogue One was released last week for Digital Download from multiple distributors, including iTunes, Vudu and Google Play, and the film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 4.
One of the more intriguing featurettes attached to the film’s official home release is The Governor and the Princess, which details how the filmmakers recreated Peter Cushing’s chilling performance as Grand Moff Tarkin via actor Guy Henry, not to mention that breathtaking cameo by Princess Leia, brought memorably to life by Norwegian actress Ingvild Deila.
“There wouldn’t have been a decision to have a character reappear like this unless (Rogue One FX supervisor and story creator) John Knoll could reassure us that it was going to be completely believable,” LucasFilm President Kathleen Kennedy explains in the video.
Other features on the home video release of Rogue One include featurettes on Alan Tudyk’s K-2SO, warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe, as well as Forrest Whitaker’s Saw Guerra, who recently resurfaced on television in Star Wars: Rebels. Another scene pays homage to illustrator and concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, whose conceptual designs were used as inspiration on Rogue One, Rebels, and upcoming Star Wars films.
Looking forward, fans are eagerly awaiting the release of Episode VIII in the saga, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which premieres on December 15 and features the return of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and the poignant last performance of Carrrie Fisher as General Leia Organa. We’re also looking forward to next year’s solo Han Solo origin film, detailing how Han and Chewie came to claim the Millennium Falcon thanks to one smooth-talking smuggler, Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). The latter film also features Alden Ehrenreich as Han, as well as Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke and Michael Kenneth Williams.
Departing Disney CEO Bob Iger also said this week that the company is plotting another “decade and a half” of Star Wars films.
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