Rogue One Bits: The Hilarious Origin Of Scarif, Deleted Scenes, And The Original Opening Crawl

In this edition of Rogue One Bits:

Rogue One director Gareth Edwards recently participated in a Reddit AMA, where things got...well, they got a little lewd:

It's so weird seeing things you and a friend designed in a room 2 years ago, appearing on T-shirts and boxer shorts and socks.... I want to make a joke about the closest me getting to girls underpants, but I won't, as Disney are standing over my shoulder. Literally.

He also revealed that they knew John Williams would not be available to score the film from the beginning and that the decision to not include an opening crawl was made before filming started. However, one was actually written...but he won't be the one to reveal it:

Gary Whitta actualy wrote one in the first draft. You'll have to pester him for it ;) ...I do believe that those opening crawl words are actually floating out there in space somewhere. We just have to fund NASA well enough so their deep-space telescopes can find them, lets crowd fund it and make it happen.

But the most amusing tidbit he revealed was that he had hung posters for some of the, well, lesser Star Wars movies on the walls as a joke, to remind people that their movie couldn't be worse than those...and that he tried to keep George Lucas from seeing them:

He came to visit Pinewood before we started filming.... to take the pressure off us, I had posters in my room of the previous 'Star Wars spinoffs' – 'Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure' and the 'Star Wars Holiday Special'... my main goal when he came in was to try and stop him seeing these... my second goal was him liking the film.

Speaking of silly Gareth Edwards stories, the director was a keynote speaker at SXSW this week, where he revealed that he was able to name one of the planets in Rogue One. Specifically, he went to a coffee shop, ordered a drink, and when his cup was handed to him, the word "Scarif" was written on it instead of "Gareth." And like that, the home of the top secret Imperial base was born! Edwards also revealed that Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson visited the set and was in attendance for one of the film's key climactic scenes.

When I interviewed Gareth Edwards yesterday, he explained that it issn't up to him if the alternate ending of Rogue One will ever be released. Speaking with Fandango, he elaborated, explaining that there aren't that many full deleted scenes anyway:

There's not an individual scene that you can drag and drop and put on a Blu-ray. There are little things that would come and go during the process of post-production, but they're not scenes. They're more moments within the scenes, or a single shot. So it's impossible to be able to do that, and that's why the decision was made.

He also spoke about that trailer shot where Jyn Erso comes face-to-face with a TIE Fighter, explaining that it came about through experimentation:

[The TIE Fighter shot] is going to have to remain a myth because it's sort of the thing where you're trying ideas out to find the right version of the movie, and at the same time marketing is getting excited about certain shots and moments. Eventually you'll see something presented to you and you'll be like, wait a minute, this shot is no longer in the film.

Our first look at the first covers for the first issue of Marvel's comic book adaptation of Rogue One have arrived. There are two versions: the regular one (with a more familiar, dramatic depiction of the cast by artist Phil Noto) and a the action figure variant, which looks like packaging for a Jyn Erso toy. Written by Jody Houser with art by Emilio Laiso and Oscar Bazaldua, the first issue will arrive on April 5, 2017.

Jedi News noticed that StarWars.com has officially updated its database with new information on the characters and locations of Rogue One. For example, here's some previously unknown information about the farm where the Erso clan tried hiding out:

When the Ersos decided to break with the Empire, Saw Gerrera facilitated the purchase of a 65-hectare farm on the eastern side of the distant planet Lah'mu. On this world far from the centers of power, Galen and his family have reinvented themselves as subsistence farmers, hoping to escape from Director Krennic and his hunters.

There isn't anything groundbreaking or shocking to be found, but if you want to explore some minutiae, there are worse things to do with a slow day at work.

Although Rogue One features a digitally created Grand Moff Tarkin cooked up by ILM, actor Guy Henry was on set every day to stand in for the late Peter Cushing and provide a voice. And while it's a much smaller part, Norwegian actress Ingvild Deila did the same for Princess Leia in the film's final shot. You can watch her first interview about her work in the film in the video above.