Is Disney making the right call on another prequel film?

Yeah, I know what you mean, its hard to engage in a story when you already know the outcome. But i'm very hopeful for these anthology films, hopefully they will be darker and grittier, and center on telling a great story. Disney should not forget that most SW fans aint kids.......and we spend too!! Tell a great story, make us engage with the characters and I think all will be well.
peace.

 

This is a really good point to raise, and I think that the short answer is "Time will tell."

My concern over Rogue One is similar to the one I had over the PT even before TPM was released. We know the overall outcome of the story, so for me it all boils down to two questions.

a.) Will it add to the existing story to see this foregone conclusion fleshed out into a movie of its own?

And...

b.) Will this be a compelling story in its own right while also maintaining solid continuity with established backstory elements?

IMHO, the mission to steal the Death Star plans is a fun little bit of backstory to examine, and it's not going to really do all that much harm to the saga films if it doesn't work as a movie. Worst case scenario, we've got the old SW radio drama version that Brian Daley wrote 35 years ago in which the Death Star plans are swiped on Toprawa.

But I also think that chances are very good that they might make this into an excellent little action movie. As long as they stick to any basics that were established in ANH, and most of that is limited to what we know from the ANH opening crawl: that the Rebels attacked from their "hidden fortress", that the battle was their first victory against the Empire, and that during the battle Rebel spies managed to steal the Death Star plans.

We also know that at some point Princess Leia received the Death Star plans as an intercepted transmission aboard her cruiser, and was on her way to Tatooine to meet with Obi Wan Kenobi when the Empire caught her. But I assume that this will not be a focal point of the film, as it would require recasting Leia. I suspect we'll see the transmission of the plans from the point of view of the Rebel spies, and Leia's blockade runner will probably make an appearance at the end of the film. But most of what we'll probably see in Rogue One is this battle that the Rebels launch from their hidden Yavin base, and the spy mission that occurs during this battle (which I take to mainly be a distraction.)

As long as what they come up with for Rogue One feels and looks like it could have taken place days or hours before the events of ANH, and as long as the story and characters are engaging, I think they've probably got a winner.

But yeah, it's always a major gamble to expect an audience to be engaged by a prequel film where the outcome isn't exactly a surprise. No question about it.

 

The problem I have always found in prequels is that you can hardly fall in love with anybody because you know what the outcome will be. No matter how cool the character acts or how awesome he/she looks, there is always the fact that you know that these characters have no place in the future stories since they don't apear in the films or die in them. This is just my opinion but what point is there to make an awesome prequel movie about Capt Needa if you are just going to see him bite the dust at the hands of Vader in ESB. For me this ruins what could have been a great movie because why would fans care to find out that Needa was an amazing warrior who was an exelent shooter and even force sensitive, if he's going to die in that dumb way. This is one factor that I feel hurt the prequels greatly. You had cool looking characters like Plo Koon, Grievous, Jango, Mace ect but why would fans want to get in touch with them if they all know they have to bite the dust? Now regarding Rogue One, we have to ask ourselves, will the story be awesome? Is there any hope for these characters beyond their own movie or will they be another bunch of guys you know will die or disapear forever? I think Rogue One can be a very good movie if things like this are taken into consideration but only time will tell. What I really would like is that if they are going to stick to making prequels from time to time and they are going to use characters and stories from the saga, that they stick to characters that the fans can forsee in further adventures and not characters who bit the dust in the movies. For me it would be awesome to see prequel movies about characters like Bossk, Zuckuss, Wedge or even Akbar since we all know that these characters are all alive and well in the OT and we can look forward to their further exploits. Heck I'd be down to seeing a prequel movie about Dengar or Lobot if said movie is done right! But where's the love about making a movie to tell us how wonderful Porkins was or how amazing Beru and Owen were if we are just going to see the first bite it in the first Death Star battle and the others become extra crispy?

 

Technically speaking, all movies are prequels every time a sequel is made

 

We only know the outcome from a certain point of view. Yes, they will successfully steal the Death Star plans, but the how is what we are going to see? We will become invested in these new characters and watch many of them die and struggle to stay alive throughout the film keeping us on the edge of our seats.

 

The Force is strong in this one!

 

it's not the destination that matters but the journey

 

As long as the film is good, I have no problem with additional prequel films. Actually, as long as they are good, I will take films in any Star Wars era - bring it on, please! (Should they decide to make films that struggle with themselves again though, I will be less than thrilled...). For now, I see no reason for being pessimistic; NewStarWars is going to be awesome!

 

Every story is cool when it is well narrated.

 

Yeah, except for the fact that there's a significant difference in the way that an actual prequel film or story is written. Or at least there should be.

Writing a regular story, or a sequel to an existing story, is an open-ended proposition. The story can pretty much go anywhere, though with sequels you've got some established continuity to maintain.

With a prequel, you not only have continuity to maintain, but you've also got a specific ending point that's already established. And it's a lot harder to stick that landing than it is when you're writing an open-ended story. There are often backstory elements that need to be fleshed out, and again these are usually limited by what the prequel needs to connect up with.

It's kind of like trying to write on a piece of paper and keep everything spaced properly without a big pile-up at the edge of the page. The mistake that I think a lot of writers make is to treat a prequel story as though they were writing a sequel. It's not the same at all, and when it's treated as such the results are usually less than stellar.

 

I'm interested to see the ''in betweens'' of events that happened. Even though we've all ready seen and know the end result, we never get to see it from certain perspectives,just only from references in the OT. I'm anxious to see the events actually unfold from a perspective we havent experienced yet

 

I think there's too much emphasis here on characters being wasted when we know what will happen to them. I completely disagree, as a student of film and philosophy. We often know exactly what will happen to someone in a story, but regardless, we care about them as a character, and empathize with them on their journey, and root for them even against certain death. We enjoy fighting with them in their struggles, even when we've already seen them die.

Movies are about more than that. As is Star Wars. Star Wars is multi-generational. It isn't about the same characters over many films, but about families, about societies, about good versus evil. The journey of Rogue One, the mission, and its success (at whatever cost, we will soon find out) will, if done right, speak to us on some level, and we will find ejoyment and meaning in it. And if it's really good, we will look at A New Hope in a much different light. A new light, with further appreciation for the Rebels and their cause, their struggles and their losses, because, as of Rogue One, we will have felt those losses too, with them.

"Many Bothans died..." Who cares? We may sympathize a little with that statement, but for us to actually *see* what it took, what great men and women died for the cause of freedom against the Empire, that is something else. And that's why this could be a great film, potentially. And a great companion/lead-in to the original film. It will enhance ANH, if it succeeds, and give us a new enjoyable ride.

 

I kind of like the idea. You watch the prequel trilogy and Clone Wars tv series, then you have the Star Wars Rebels tv series and then Rogue One before going directly into the original trilogy, and then the sequel trilogy.

 

Bothans had nuttin' to do with the plans of the first Death Star.