2016 Star Wars Spin-Off Movie Plot Revealed

This morning, our scoop about the theatrical placement of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer was confirmed. Now, we have another Star Wars scoop for you.

Recently, we learned a juicy rumor about the plot to Gareth Edwards and Gary Whitta's 2016 Star Wars spin off movie. The information came second hand from a single good source, so we began to dig. All we wanted was one more person to tell us we were on the right track. Literally dozens of people were contacted at all levels and while there were a few nibbles, we could never get a solid second confirmation. We contacted Lucasfilm, which declined to comment. So for that reason, take this story with a grain of salt and a huge rumor label.

That said, we think there is enough evidence to present you a rumored plot of the 2016 Star Wars spin off movie.

We've heard the 2016 Star Wars spin-off movie is about the group of people out to pull off the ultimate heist in a galaxy far, far away.

What the group is trying to steal is one of the most important linchpins in Star Wars history — they are out to steal the plans for the first Death Star.

That's right, the story is set during the A New Hope era. However, it's not the Rebel Alliance as we'd all assumed.

As rumor has it, the story follows a group of bounty hunters who were hired for the job — think the Seven Samurai or Suicide Squad meets Ocean's Eleven in the world of Star Wars.

As mentioned, no one at Disney or Lucasfilm would comment on this. Several sources with inside information on the Star Wars universe acknowledged this was possible and others suggest it has a few strings of truth, but might not be the whole truth.

Here's what does make sense.

This story is one of the most important in the history of Star Wars.

It's literally the event that sets in motion the path of Luke Skywalker.

The crawl of A New Hope says the following: "It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet." It makes it sound like they're Rebels, but they could have been working for the Rebels.

We also know there've been rumors about a Boba Fett spin-off movie. Fett was never mentioned in any of the conversations we had about this film, but if this is a movie about bounty hunters, you could easily include him. I repeat: we do not know if Boba Fett is in this film. We just think the idea of the Rebels hiring a bunch of bounty hunters, who don't have a real allegiance, is a logical and cool plot.

Think about it. The Rebels are a wealthy but small organization. It's very plausible they don't have the military skill to pull off a mission of this size and could pay people familiar with the Empire to steal the plans. People who have no morals. Then again, if bounty hunters stole the plans, would Darth Vader employ them looking for the Millennium Falcon come The Empire Strikes Back? Speaking of which...

Here's one thing that doesn't make sense. We also heard the Millennium Falcon is somehow involved. Now, as far as we know, Han Solo would own the Falcon in this time period, which would logically culminate mere days before the events of A New Hope. However, we also heard Solo is not a character in this film, so do the bounty hunters steal his ship? Is this just another ship that looks like the Falcon? Are we incorrect and does Lando still have the ship? We don't know. But if the Falcon is in the movie, you have to assume it's THE Falcon, not a Falcon, otherwise it's just confusing.

Another piece of the rumor we heard is the main character of this film would be introduced in The Force Awakens. If that's the case, they would have to be much older in that the new film. Maybe in their 60s to 80s.

That's certainly possible. Max Von Sydow's character could fit the bill. There's a rumor he plays a character who introduces Daisy Ridley to Han Solo, which would be a link. He may even be a retired bounty hunter named Montross, which could place him in this story. But those are just rumors.

Whether its Von Sydow's character or not, it seems like a long time for a person so integral for Star Wars lore to take a back seat. Unless, of course, they have to pull a Michael Corleone and lay low for a few years. Either way if we meet an older man or woman in The Force Awakens and the next year, a film is released that shows them as an intricate part of the destruction of the Death Star, that would really give both The Force Awakens and the Star Wars saga some fascinating new layers.

Aging isn't an absolute isn't the Star Wars universe either. We know from Darth Vader, Yoda and others that someone who is powerful with the Force ages slower than normal. Plus, aliens and droids are different/don't age. If the main character is any of those things, he/she/they could be younger. But I doubt a new, CG character is the center of a spin off. Or that a bounty hunter would have Jedi traits.

Still, if the film does star a character from The Force Awakens, it would explain why Lucasfilm hasn't revealed the plot of this movie yet. They haven't officially revealed who any of the new actors are playing and wouldn't want to jump the gun with a new character name or information about their past. At least until we know a little more about the new film.

So that's the rumor. Director Gareth Edwards and writer Gary Whitta might be working on a movie about bounty hunters stealing the Death Star plans from the Empire. The main character might be introduced in The Force Awakens, the Millenium Falcon could play a part and Han Solo is probably not in it. We'll know in the next few weeks/months how much, if any, of this is true because it's very possible there are some big chunks to the mystery missing. Either way, you read it here first.