Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. While not everyone loves that last half of the anthology title, most seem to have accepted Rogue One’s title. And why not? It’s simple, to the point, and it gives you a great idea of what to expect within the runtime. Perhaps it doesn’t mean much outside of the Star Wars context, but for those in the know, it holds a great deal of meaning and importance.
In fact, based on the finished film, it’s hard to imagine that there was any other title in the running. Speaking with IGN, co-writer Chris Weitz discussed the other options that were on the table.
“There was one point at which we were kicking around titles for this, right?” Weitz said. “Rogue One was a good choice eventually, but one of them was Dark Times.”
Ew, gross. Seriously, Dark Times is the most generic-sounding title of all-time. Though I know I’m pretty weird with titles. I HATE titles of books or movies that basically translate to “nothing happens in this story.” Titles like We Don’t Live Here Anymore, You and Me and Everyone We Know, I’m Still Here, This is Us, or anything along those lines, drive me nuts. Dark Times only seems like a small step above those kinds of titles.
RELATED – Rogue One’s Gareth Edwards FINALLY Locks Down New Sci-Fi Film
That being said, Obi-Wan Kenobi did reference these “dark times” in Star Wars: A New Hope, so I guess it does have a bit more meaning to it. All in all, they were looking for a specific rhythm and feel for the title that was different from the saga movies.
“I went back and looked to all the previous films, and this continues to be true even with the sequel trilogy now being completed, the titles of Star Wars Saga films are always either three words or four words long. They just all are,” co-writer Gary Whitta noted. “So it occurred to me that one of the ways we could differentiate this movie from the rest is we had a title that was only one word or two words long. So like Star Wars: Rebellion, Star Wars: Rogue One, let’s do a title that’s shorter so that even from the title of the movie you know this is something that doesn’t necessarily conform to the unwritten rules of the Saga films.”
Though the anthology films may not have lasted long, both Rogue One and Solo did have that one to two-word title, which is cool. Going forward, if we do get more of them, I wonder if Lucasfilm will feel compelled to stick to that pattern.
How do you feel about the titling process of Rogue One? Let us know your thoughts down below!
Wanna join the LRM Online conversation on Discord? Join our server by CLICKING HERE!
—–
Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcast feed yet The LRM Online Podcast Network? This includes our flagship podcast Los Fanboys, our premiere podcast Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, and our morning show LRMornings. Check it out by listening below. It’s also available on all your favorite podcast apps!
Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play
SOURCE: IGN (via Cinema Blend)
