'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' spoilers 2016: Gareth Edwards doesn't 'want to ruin it for people' on a possible Leia cameo
Snuck in between the prequel and the original trilogies, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is tipped to be a melting pot of both seemingly disengaged timelines in the famed franchise. Various trailers have offered appearances of some key people from the budding Rebellion like Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) and even Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits). On the flipside, fans know that Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) will be back in arguably his most ruthless form while buzz of a young Grand Moff Tarkin (with a new actor) may also come to the screen at some point. While these characters are a welcome addition to the new band of heroes and antiheroes in the flick, there is still a resonating clamor for one particular appearance regardless of how small it is in Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher).
Should this be true, the cameo makes so much sense as "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is tipped to end just before the opening sequence of "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope" in which a young Leia sends R2D2 and C3PO on a mission to find Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness). In fact, the new narrative was referenced in the opening crawl of the 1977 surprise hit. The covert assignment for the two droids involves the plan to the Death Star which is a major player in the new film as Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and her rebel group tries to steal it.
While this particular scenario sounds like a no-brainer as a way to tie the stories more cohesively, director Gareth Edwards will just not reveal if there will be a Princess Leia appearance in "Rogue One." Appearing on the French channel, TMC (via Cinema Blend), as part of the media promotion for his latest flick, the British filmmaker was straightforwardly asked if fans will get to see Leia in his movie to which he coyly responds: "I don't to ruin it for people." He gave the same answer when he was pressed about R2D2.
With the technological breakthroughs in terms of digital media, it is not really that difficult to make this fan-clamored scene happen. Disney has just done it with "Captain America: Civil War" with Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark appearing to be almost a couple of decades younger. Since Lucasfilm Ltd. also falls under the same corporate umbrella, "Rogue One" can easily utilize the scheme as well.
Regardless of whether "A New Hope" tag will be in attached to the anthology film or not, it is already tipped to be a success not just in terms of the box office with presale ticket numbers breaking records. The narrative is also said to be leaving fans content in a way that it offers something fresh and yet very distinctly "Star Wars." Alan Tudyk, who plays the new droid, K2S0, via motion cap shares that the movie overwhelmed the cast after they saw it for the first time.
"We all just saw it last night," Tudyk said in Facebook Live with Edwards and the rest of the principal cast members of the movie. "It was our first time to see it, last night. I have to say, right after it was done, there was just this stunned silence, which for a bunch of mouthy people, really says a lot. It was really ... I can't wait for other people to see it. It's a journey."
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" blasts through cinemas this Dec. 16.