Disney’s Rogue One Problem??

I’m a huge Star Wars fan.  I’ve seen all the movies.  I’ve watched the Ewok specials.   I’ve seen every episode of the Clone Wars and Rebels and read about 100 Star Wars books.  I waited all week for the Rogue One Trailer and watched it at least 7 times the night it came out.    I personally can’t wait for the movie so as far as Disney is concerned they have this Star Wars fan wrapped around their finger.  

The problem Disney faces with Rogue One is the casual Star Wars fan.  The marketing for a Rogue One is a challenge for Disney.  This movie has no recognizable characters from previous Star Wars films with the exception of Vader.   As I sat mouth a gape in front of my big screen TV during the Olympic coverage as the Rogue One trailer rolled across the screen my wife turned to me about one minute in and said “Are there any characters we know in this movie?”    And that is the problem.   The diehard fans like me get that this movie takes place right before  A New Hope.    The average casual fan that showed up to see Han Solo in the Force Awakens remains confused.   As much as Disney will try to get the message out as to what this movie is about and when it takes place in the Star Wars Timeline---there are going to be people that show up to the theater and wonder ……”Where is Luke?”   “BB-8 isn’t in the movie?”   Despite the ads people are going to think this is Episode 8.  People are going to ask “ I thought Vader died?”     How is Disney going to solve this problem?  How will they get the message out to the average fan and how will that effect the box office for the film?    Disney can’t expect this film to even come close to what The Force Awakens did.  The Force Awakens marketed itself.   It was the right movie at the right time.  
I assume Disney will expect Rogue One to be more like a Thor or Antman at the box office movie when compared to The Avengers, but what if they mistakenly think this will be just as big?  

Personally I think the are doing a good job of explaining what this movie is.....But is that enough for the average viewer to get it?

Here is the trailer.

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Quick Thoughts on Rogue One Trailer…..and Questions

Like every other hardcore Star Wars fan I got super excited when I heard yesterday that the first teaser for Rogue One would premiere today.  I got to work a few minutes earlier and logged onto Facebook and the barrage of links for the trailer were plastered all over Facebook.

Of course I watched it immediately several times. To be honest I wasn’t blown away with it. 

I wasn’t excited about the trailer which is unusal because I was super excited by the Force Awakens Trailer.  Don’t get me wrong I’m sure I will see the movie the first couple of days it is in the theater and I will listen to podcasts about every rumor concerning the film until it comes out.   But with the exception of the really cool scene with the walkers at the end it felt more like a TV show than a movie.   

It felt like a Battlestar Gallactica promo to me.  It was dumb of me to watch it for the first time on my phone instead of at home  (Like I could wait that long)

Star Wars fans got all excited to see Mon Mothma featured in the Rogue One Trailer…….

The average person –will be like …..”Who the hell is Mon Mothma and why I’m I supposed to be excited about her being in the movie?”

I guess it just didn’t show us enough for me.    I actually liked the teaser trailer from the Star Wars Convention for Rogue One better…..which was basically just a slow panning shot through a forest with the Death Star in the background.

What did you think of the trailer?  

What has you excited or not excited about this risky first non-Saga film?   

Will Mon Mothma and a bunch of other characters you have never heard of before –get the masses to the theaters?  

When will we see more of Vader?  (He better not just be in the last 30 seconds of the movie like Luke was)

What about Tarkin?

Time will tell…….I hope the next trailer gives us something more to be excited about.   Especially considering that we already know how this movie will end.  

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