Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's release is only a week away, and although its opening weekend predictions are looking good, it has a lot riding on its shoulders. As a non-chaptered iteration of the franchise that doesn't revolve around the Skywalker legacy, Rogue One is Disney's first official Star Wars spinoff. More of these on the way, including a young Han Solo film starring Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) and a rumored Boba Fett solo project. Rogue One also bears the burden of being the first Star Wars feature release (not counting the live action Ewok spinoffs or The Clone Wars) that won't include a soundtrack composed by the legendary John Williams.

Standing in as the Star Wars music man is Michael Giacchino (Inside Out), who was himself recently brought onto Rogue One after reshoots pushed Alexandre Desplat (Godzilla) off of the project. Giacchino had to hit the ground running, as he recently revealed that he only had four weeks to create the score. The tracklist for Rogue One's score was recently revealed with a few hints at story beats, but little to give fans an idea of what to expect musically.

Lucasfilm recently released a "Scoring Highlights" featurette, which includes recording sessions for two tracks: "Her Path is Clear" and "Approach to Edau." Neither of these track names were among those included on the official soundtrack, which likely indicates that these smaller movements will be compiled into differently titled longer tracks in the official release.

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Fans worried that Rogue One won't sound like a proper Star Wars film can now rest easy. The two minutes of Giacchino's score we're treated to are very much in the vein of Williams' classic melodies. While no strong new themes emerge in the video, the connective material feels appropriate. Considering the time restraints that Giacchino worked under, it may be too much for fans to hope that Rogue One's score will match the heights of its predecessors. That said, at least what exists is sounding pretty good. If the rest of the film hits a similar level of quality, the soundtrack will at least be solid, if not stellar.

Are you excited about Giacchino's contribution to the Star Wars universe? What do you think of the samples from the featurette? Let us know in the comments section, and stay tuned to Screen Rant for updates and impressions on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as they hit.

Source: Lucasfilm

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