The teaser trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has dropped and it’s mostly notable for the concerted, and effective, effort that’s been made to have this first Star Wars Anthology film be in conversation with and stand apart from the official Star Wars series. Felicity Jones is at the helm as Jyn Erso, who makes clear midway through that she understands instructions that, at least on the surface, couldn’t be any clearer: “We have a mission for you. A major weapons test is imminent. We need to know what it is and how to destroy it.” Which is to say, more of the same, but evident from the teaser is that director Gareth Edwards looks to bring to the film that same artful mix of the disquieting and the beautiful that dignifies his previous works, Monsters and Godzilla. The film, which also stars Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Forest Whitaker, and Mads Mikkelsen, is rumored to feature an appearance by Darth Vader. More certain is that, no matter how much of the familiar the film will recycle, it will make a killing at the box office come December.
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