Director Gareth Edwards and writer Gary Whitta reveal they first wrote a less bleak ending, in case Disney and Lucasfilm found their preferred one too dark

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Spoilers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story follow

The ending for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story might have been decidedly less bleak had the prequel’s film-makers opted to use the film’s original script.

In the final version of the film, the Rebel fighters are killed at the conclusion of their ultimately successful mission to steal the blueprints for Darth Vader’s lethal space station, the Death Star.

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However, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, screenwriter Gary Whitta and director Gareth Edwards revealed that an early draft of the script had some of the Rebels escaping the tropical planet of Scarif, including the film’s protagonists Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), in case Disney found their preferred ending too dark.

“The original instinct was that they should all die,” said Whitta “That’s what we always wanted to do. But we never explored it because we were afraid that Disney and Lucasfilm might not let us do it, that Disney might think it’s too dark for a Star Wars movie or for their brand.”

However, the film-makers managed to convince the studios that a noble sacrifice would make for a stronger conclusion.

“We told them, we feel they all need to die, and [Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy] and everyone else said to go for it. We got the ending that we wanted.” Whitta said.

That said, even in the original script not everyone made it off Scarif, where the blueprints were held.

“[Security droid] Kaytoo always died,” Whitta said. “Jyn did survive. Cassian also survived. There were a lot of casualties on both sides, in both versions of the scripts.”

Edwards and Whitta also revealed that the original version of the film didn’t include the characters Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) or Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen), while Jyn was originally written as an enlisted Rebel soldier, rather than a street criminal-turned-freedom fighter.

Rogue One was the first of a proposed series of standalone Star Wars anthology films that will expand the franchise’s universe. The next film in the series will centre on a young Han Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich. The Lego Movie’s Phil Lord and Christopher Miller will direct the film, which has the working title Red Cup and is due in cinemas on 25 May 2018.

A third entry in the series is planned for 2020, although no details have yet emerged about the project.