It was previously rumored that
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story would do away with the series staple of featuring an opening crawl to start the film, and now director Gareth Edwards has confirmed that the anticipated prequel will be the first to not feature the iconic opening.
In a translated interview with French website TF1, Edwards revealed that the decision was made to differentiate the prequel from the main
Star Wars saga, and will instead feature a prologue set 15 years before the film's events.
"There is no opening crawl. But there is a prologue at the beginning of the film that takes place 15 years before the action of the film and that is how the action is exposed. Our film comes from the text of Episode IV...if we give the text, it would be endless. We really had to differentiate Rogue One from the rest of the saga."
POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD
Edwards was also quizzed on other aspects of the film connecting to
A New Hope. We know that the film's events lead up to Darth Vader boarding Princess Leia's ship searching for the stolen plans, but will Leia and R2-D2 actually appear in the movie?
"I dont want to ruin it for people," Edwards said.
Meanwhile, the famous opening - which features a yellow plot summary "crawling" up the screen to John Williams' classic score - has been a quintessential part of the
Star Wars films, continuing in
The Force Awakens last year. Its absence in
Rogue One will no doubt be troubling for some longtime fans. How do you feel about the film omitting the opening crawl? Sound off below!
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is directed by Gareth Edwards and stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, with Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel are producing, with John Knoll and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers.
The movie opens in U.S. theaters on
December 16, 2016.