November 8th almost – ALMOST – made me forget the [crosses fingers] “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” amazingness making landfall in 17 days. Yes, I won’t lie, the nastiness of the presidential election season and the subsequent victory of Orange Vader just about caused me to forget about STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE. This time last year I was counting down the days until THE FORCE AWAKENS. This year I’m counting down the days until the apocalypse.

I’m half teasing, of course, but it does seem like ROGUE ONE is marching towards its December 16th release date with less pomp and circumstance than J.J. Abrams’ revitalization of the STAR WARS saga in 2015. I didn’t have much trepidation with THE FORCE AWAKENS, but I do have some uneasiness about ROGUE ONE. This is a new chapter – a new direction – for the STAR WARS universe. It could be extremely well-received by audiences and critics, or it could go the way of the prequels, which is to say lots of hype and loads of tomfoolery. Considering Gareth Edwards, the director of GODZILLA and MONSTERS, is at the helm, I’m going to cast an early vote for a commercial and critical success.

It’s fitting that a STAR WARS movie themed on hope is coming a little over a month after an election that left a lot of folks feeling hopeless. Take a peek at the behind-the-scenes featurette embedded in this post and let me know if you’re jazzed for a new chapter in the STAR WARS universe.