In a little over a month (as of this writing), moviegoers will once again return to the galaxy far, far away for the prequel/spinoff Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Set prior to the original 1977 film, it revolves around the Rebel Alliance's dangerous mission to steal the Death Star plans so they can find a way to destroy the Galactic Empire's super weapon. Lucasfilm has expectedly pieced together quite the marketing campaign for the film, with numerous trailers and posters that have excited fans. The hope with the new anthology films is that they bring fresh perspectives to the franchise, and Rogue One is shaping up to be a hard-hitting war drama in space.
Of course, Disney is hopeful that the movie will be a global hit, and not just a smash domestically. It's for this reason that the studio also cuts international theatrical previews in an attempt to appeal to the foreign markets. Over the summer, Lucasfilm released the first of these, and now that the release date is fast approaching, a second one has been released online. You can watch it above.
Structurally speaking, the trailer is very similar to the most recent U.S. one, though there are a few alterations. The beginning shows more of the flashback sequence where Jyn Erso's father Galen is seemingly taken by Director Orson Krennic and the Imperials to work on the Death Star project. There's a shot of a young Jyn running while Krennic's shuttle arrives on her home planet, and another of Jyn receiving a necklace from her mother, Lyra. Fans will be intrigued by Lyra's advice to her daughter, "Trust the Force," as it suggests the family believes in the old religion, even if they are not Jedi Knights. This is a new element of Jyn's character that hasn't been revealed before and adds another layer.
Once again, director Gareth Edwards' sense of scope and scale is on full display with looks at a variety of action sequences. A new bit here is what seems to be the Death Star firing on a planet (quite possible Jedha) and mass destruction unfolding as the Rebels' ship flies away. Of course, fans have seen a world destroyed by the Death Star, but never before have they seen what that looks like from on the surface. That has the potential to be one of the most horrifying and unsettling set pieces in the whole series, depicting the terrors of the Empire in a whole new light. Other imagery of ground battles and space dogfights are similar or identical to what's already been released.
It's no secret that Rogue One features the highly-anticipated big screen return of famed villain Darth Vader, but Lucasfilm has smartly resisted the urge to use the Dark Lord as a crutch in advertising. There is a new shot of Vader in this international trailer, but it's very brief and is essentially nothing we haven't seen before. Fans of course are eager to see the Sith in action, but that time will come soon enough. It's best if the studio holds back on the spoilers and focuses more on the fresh elements of Rogue One, which is a strategy that worked for The Force Awakens.
NEXT: New Rogue One Trading Cards
Source: Disney/Lucasfilm [via JoBlo]
