Rogue One What if Rogue One was released before Force Awakens?

This idea crossed my mind since a few people I've talked to have said that RO releasing so soon after TFA made it less of an event to them. Another year, another Star Wars, and this one isn't a main saga episode. So I started wondering what the overall reaction would have been if these last two movies swapped places? Imagine RO as our first new live action Star Wars movie since ROTS and the very first one to come from Disney purchasing Lucasfilm.
Would the reception of RO have been very different? What would our outlook on the future of the franchise as a whole be like if, instead TFA, the first post-Lucas movie was this much darker, bleaker war movie set during the OT era?
Just a train of thought I had that was interesting to me, and it made me wonder how others might feel about it.

 

One thing's for sure: I would've found TFA much more fairytale-like from the get-go.

RO would probably also have boosted my excitement for Episode VII of the Skywalker Saga! I was excited, but could've been even more so.

 

It might have made them rethink of copying ANH so much.

It would have upped their game by giving Captain Phasma more to do and not suck so badly, but would they have kept Poe?

TFA's biggest problem is forgetting that the OT had Han, Leia & Luke whilst TFA should have been Finn, Poe & Rey!

I don't see them recognising that mistake!

 

?

Poe was never intended as a major character on the level of Han. The new trilogy is about Rey, Finn and Kylo.
Poe is more comparable to Lando.

 

Oh I think TFA was the right movie to reboot Star Wars
It is lighter and easier to absorb by newer viewers. And that question of "What happened next?" was a powerful hook.

If Rogue came first the advertising would have played even more into nostalgia, and I think it would have felt like a waiting game. People want the Soap Opera.

 

I think whichever film was coming first would have taken less risks. I don't think we'd have got RO as we know it had it come out before TFA.

 

Disney and Lucasfilm probably think they got it right. After a $4 billion investment they needed to go full bore on the saga extension to set up their ambitious plans. Coming out with a film that excluded the mysticism, eschewed the original main characters, and concentrated on the grit of the rebellion probably would have brought about a lot of criticism of their handling of the Star Wars universe. Though there were and are those unsatisfied with TFA, the overwhelming reaction was emphatically positive, and their plan to interject non-saga anthologies also seem to be on track.

 

I have watched The Force Awakens probably a dozen times over the last year. I have always enjoyed it. However, I have to say...after seeing Rogue One it has changed my perspective of The Force Awakens somewhat. I still like TFA and I think they did a great job with the new characters. However, I think the whole Starkiller thing was just a blown opportunity. They went the Hollywood route of BIGGER must be BETTER. But it is just never set up that well. The Rebel meetings concerning it just seem very contrived and you never really sense their lives are in legitimate danger. I think Episode 8 has the pressure on it now to really kick the saga back into high gear.

 

It probably would have been better because of the aforementioned "playing it safe". Rogue One would have taken less risks and that would kind of blow. But Rogue One is one and done. TFA sets up 2 more maybe even 5 more movies. So it would have been better for TFA to have more freedom because it affects more Star Wars films.

I also believe the Rogue One cast would have survived. The main reason being if TFA then tanked, they might be able to retreat to the R1 set of characters for Rogue Two and Rogue Three (with Mr. T).

There is also something going on with TFA - Prequels. I believe there are quite a few people that love to bash the Prequels (because the first Star Wars internet era movie made it cool to do so) that use TFA as another way to bash the Prequels. It allows them to say "this is how the Anakin should have been done" or "thank god George Lucas is gone." Then you have those that defend the prequels having the opposite effect. Time for revenge for all the Prequel nitpicks. Episode 7: Revenge of the (Star Wars) Nerds. So Rogue One probably would have had that built in hate/love thing tied into *fan* reviews.

In the end, Rogue One was so great for me that it is now Episode 4 and 4,5,6 just became 5,6,7 as far as I'm concerned. Thank you TFA for taking all the geek fire.

 

Too bad they've already completed all the filming. There might be an effect in the editing stage of "we can do that and Star Wars fans will like and accept it? We need to rework this entire episode now with the handcuffs off. Now how do we do reshoots without the Hollywood Reporter making a big deal out of it?"

 

Well, I am trusting they actually got it right. I think it needed to get out of the hands of JJ Abrams. He did his job (rather masterfully) of redeeming Star Wars from the prequels (sorry PT lovers). I know Rian Johnson can direct, but i don't know much about his writing skills. I just hope it doesn't become some sort of convoluted mess. Oh well, I can't wait for the first trailer regardless.

 

There's quite a bit of potential so I'm trusting well qualified directors can pull this off. A bit worried about all the hand off from one episode to the next.

If they time travel or get "beamed up", then I might actually do the first walk out of a Star Wars movie.

 

I wish it had. Hopefully they see that is the the one major complaint most viewers had with that film.

 

It's SW, anything SW is going to make money.

And im sure merchandise easily doubles what TFA made.

SW has to be the safest purchase in history. I dont see the reason for any serious speed to make it back. Specially from Disney.

 

It would have been an absolutely stupid business mistake that Disney would never have made.

 

Do you know anything about Rian Johnson? You don't hire a man with that kind of creativity in the first place if you're deeply invested in handcuffing.

TFA, for a lot of reasons, needed to play it safer. And it was a smart move that paid off absurdly well, financially, and in overall reception. RJ is a hire you make for the purposes of expanding beyond a safe point. He, nor the talented people involved in VIII, do not need Rouge One to spurn them to greatness.

 

i don't know if you're a breaking bad fan, but he wrote Ozymandias, which is many people's favorite episode of the whole series. EDIT: nvm he only directed that lol.
His movie Brick is really good, though.

 

Rian wrote and directed Looper (a movie most people have seen for reference)

Maybe Rey is young Shmi sent into the future in attempt to rid the SW universe of the Skywalker bloodline. Those Skywalkers. Always stirring up trouble. j/k

The original comment had nothing to do with Rian but rather the possibilities that Rogue One opens up for the franchise.

 

PT made a billion dollars, what concern would they have?

The Transformers movie get crap reviews and with each film they come close to or make a billion which is why they are still being made.

If they are worried about money being perceived like PT is fine.

 

Difference between Rogue One and TFA? Rogue One was good. TFA was not.

 

My favorite thing about the new Star Wars era is that we're getting so many different director's visions. It's something I wish happened with the universe of Tolkien films, but alas, Jackson ended up directing every single one.

 

Hahahaha! To the point and true! I like your answer.

 

If I saw Rogue One first I would have had a very positive attitude about Disney's Star Wars. Seeing TFA a year after R1, would be a huge shock. When I saw TFA in '15, I had low expectations, but if I saw it after R1 I would have very high expectations. TFA would probably make me quit watching new SW movies, honestly.