It’s no secret that a lot of footage was cut or changed in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Huge scenes in the trailers weren’t in the final movie. And while some of the how and why that happened has been revealed, fans hoped the eventual home release would include those scenes in full. It will not… at least not yet.
It was just announced that Rogue One will be available on Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere March 24 and on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, and On-Demand April 4. The release will come with a slew of behind-the-scenes featurettes on all aspects of the film, but no additional footage. Here’s the list of extras, straight from the press release:
- A Rogue Idea — Hear how ILM’s John Knoll came up with the movie’s concept — and why it’s the right film to launch the Star Wars stand-alone films.
- Jyn: The Rebel — Get to know Rogue One’s defiant, resourceful survivor, and hear what it was like for Felicity Jones to bring her to life onscreen.
- Cassian: The Spy — Diego Luna shares insights into his complex, driven character, who becomes a hero through selflessness, perseverance and passion.
- K-2SO: The Droid — Explore the development of this reprogrammed Imperial droid, from initial pitch and character design through Alan Tudyk’s performance.
- Baze & Chirrut: Guardians of the Whills — Go deeper into the relationship between these two very different characters, with Chinese superstars Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen.
- Bodhi & Saw: The Pilot & The Revolutionary — Forest Whitaker and Riz Ahmed reflect on Saw Gerrera, the broken Rebel leader, and Bodhi Rook, the Imperial pilot who defects.
- The Empire — Meet a dangerous new Imperial adversary…and cross paths once more with the most iconic villain of all time.
- Visions of Hope: The Look of “Rogue One” — The filmmakers describe the challenges and thrills of developing a bold new look for the movie that can fit within the world of the original trilogy.
- The Princess & The Governor — See what it took to bring the vibrant young princess of “Star Wars: A New Hope” — as well as one of her most memorable foes — back to the screen.
- Epilogue: The Story Continues — Filmmakers and cast celebrate Rogue One’s premiere and look forward into the future, to the Star Wars stories yet to be told.
- Rogue Connections — Uncover Easter eggs and film facts hidden throughout the movie that connect “Rogue One” to the Star Wars universe.
Some of these sound cool, and there’s certainly a chance one or two of them get into some of the difficulties the film faced while it was being made. But to not have any deleted scenes in a movie that literally ended up having deleted scenes shown in every single trailer? That’s disappointing. It felt like this was Lucasfilm’s chance to address all the rumours and speculation about the troubled production head on. Even one featurette about the reshoots, with some quotes from Tony Gilroy, Gareth Edwards, and Kathleen Kennedy, would have gone a long way.
And yet, it still could happen, just later. Target, Best Buy and Wal-Mart will each have versions of Rogue One with unique packaging and/or content, which could theoretically cover the reshoots (those can be seen here). Plus, The Force Awakens had two Blu-ray releases; the first in 2D with similar featurettes (as well as a documentary and deleted scenes), followed by a 3D release with all that as well as an incredibly revealing director’s commentary. Unlike Force Awakens, Rogue One will be available in 3D for this release, but that doesn’t mean another release couldn’t come out later in the year, possibly with more features. Maybe there’s still more data yet to be stolen.
Here’s the brand new trailer, followed by the standard Blu-ray cover. Are you going to pick this up?
