Something I have seen recently, especially during the holidays when I have been catching up with friends and family, that has kind of surprised me but probably shouldn’t have in hindsight is a lot of people are confused about Rogue One and how it fits in the Star Wars universe. I don’t mean most of the people here or even many people online. People who are invested in Star Wars get that it is a prequel to the original Star Wars A New Hope. But many average movies goers and even casual Star Wars fans, have no idea what is going on.
More than once I have had conversations where people have just assumed it was a sequel to The Force Awakens or in come cases they knew it wasn’t that but had no idea what exactly it was other than it being Star Wars. I think this is a small failure of Disney’s Marketing department but since it won’t effect Box Office (much?) they probably don’t care.
The original movie starts with the fact that there is a new weapon called the DEATH STAR, and that the plans for it have just been stolen during the Rebellion’s first victory in battle. Right there in the opening crawl, and the rest of the movie unfolds because of those stolen plans.
This movie is about the Rebels hearing about a new weapon and trying to come up with a strategy to steal the plans.
Anybody who is confused about this just hasn’t seen the original movie, or has forgotten it.
Agreed with the OP. I remember watching the trailer for it in the movie theater and my friend goes “ANOTHER DEATH STAR? How many times are they going to do that” - until I told him that it’s a prequel to Ep4. The trailers aren’t particularly good, IMO, in stressing that.
I don’t know the demographics, but my guess is this: there are a lot of people who saw “The Force Awakens” who have never seen the originals, because they weren’t even born.
So, any new SW movie might be rightfully seen as a sequel to TFA, and a bit confusing for young viewers who haven’t seen the originals.
It’s obvious to me, but I am a little surprised that none of trailers really have said “Before a New Hope.” I think part of the issue is that it’s a prequel, but it comes after the “prequels” and that Disney doesn’t want to remind people of the prequels.
“Before ‘A New Hope’ which you might also just know as ‘Star Wars’, but after ‘Revenge of the Sith’ and way before ‘The Force Awakens’ if you’ve only seen that” doesn’t have the same ring.
I have seen all the movies and I didn’t know it is a new prequel until this thread. I didn’t know much about it at all in fact but I assumed it just picked up where The Force Awakens left off. I think it is a marketing failure.
It’s not just about knowing the first movie, though. The Force Awakens also featured a Death Star equivalent, and a sequel to TFA could easily involve the heroes stealing the plans to its replacement.
Disney’s marketing has been very clear about what happens in Rogue One, but not very clear about how that fits into the SW timeline. Someone who only watches 30-second TV trailers for the movie is never clearly told “This happens just before Episode IV.” You’ll find that out easily enough if you check it out on the web, but a lot of people don’t.
All that said, I don’t know how important it is to the marketing. Star Wars movies are a lot like politics: half the population will go just because it’s Star Wars, half the population will not go just because it’s Star Wars, and there’s a fairly small middle ground of people who are persuadable.
I’m a big Star Wars fan. Seen all the movies. Read the books that no longer count and I did not know Rogue One takes place before the first Star Wars. I thought it was going to be a kind of Adventures of Wedge dealie. So, yeah, Disney was not very clear at all about this movie.
It’s a prequel to the first movie which is actually the fourth movie and a sequel to the sixth movie which is actually the third movie. So this will be the eighth movie but it’s really the fourth movie and the ninth movie which comes out next year will be the eighth movie. What’s confusing about that?
Yeah, same. I never thought about it because I always knew it was going to be a “how the rebels got the plans to the Death Star” movie but in retrospect, for someone not paying attention, that seems like something they should’ve put in one of the trailers.
Every time I see a promo or trailer for Rogue One, I have a flash of excitement that it’s a movie based somehow on the Rogue Squadron book, or the game. BUT YET NO.
I am agreeing with these points:
the timeline is completely unclear in the materials for the general public
people who are more into Star Wars either get it, or will easily figure it out
it doesn’t matter that much in terms of the box office
Even among those in the know, there were comments wondering how many Bothans would die in this movie and whether the main character was a Bothan herself. Forgetting that the Bothans died in the process of obtaining intel for the second Death Star, the one in Return of the Jedi. Perhaps they were just excited to see Mon Mothma again.
The trailers have been unwatchable. The first with that ridiculous alarm going off during it’s entirely the second with another sound just as ear grating.
I already dont like the film, and I am a huge SW fan.