If this rumored Star Wars spin-off movie plot isn't true, it should be. Because this shit sounds great.
After Star Wars: Episode 7 premieres on December 18th 2015, the next official Star Wars movie won't be Episode 8 (directed by Rian Johnson), but a standalone, spin-off film. The first standalone film will be directed by Godzilla's Gareth Edward with a screenplay by Gary Whitta and a release date of December 16, 2016. Up until now, there has been no information on this Star Wars feature, but plot details are are leaking out and they all sounds pretty exciting.
Slashfilm is reporting (an unconfirmed rumor) that the 2016 Star Wars movie will be centered around the ultimate space heist, trying to capture the plans to the Death Star. BUT WAIT, this is NOT necessarily in reference to the "Bothans" scene from Return of the Jedi. According to Slashfilm, this story happens before the building of the first Death Star.
In fact, these stolen plans are the very schematics Princess Leia hid inside R2-D2—the information that basically launched the start of Star Wars: A New Hope.
But wait, there's more! The people tasked with stealing these plans aren't technically members of the Rebel Alliance, but hired mercenaries. Yes we're getting a rag-tag team of BOUNTY HUNTERS to follow the plans. Slashfilm is saying, "think the Seven Samurai or Suicide Squad meets Ocean's Eleven in the world of Star Wars." And yes, I will think that, because that is awesome. Also this makes sense; if this is during the early days of the Rebellion, there simply may not be enough manpower or folks associated with the cause that have the particular skills needed to tackle a job this big. So hire some space mercenaries.
OK, here's where the wild speculation starts. The rumor also mentions that the Millennium Falcon is some how involved. Could this be a showing of the famous Kessel Run? Or could Han Solo's black market past of dumping his goods "at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser," play into this? Maybe. If so, we hope it's more in the background, because we really don't need to recast Han Solo right now. That would hurt my soul. Hey, maybe Han doesn't even have the MF yet; that's all up for debate.
And finally, Slashfilm has also heard that this movie will contain a cast member from The Force Awakens. And if that's the case, that character would have to be an older cast mate in Episode 7. If that's the case, then all signs point to Max Von Sydow's character Montross, who has been whispered to be an ex-bounty hunter. It's another totally unsubstantiated rumor that works when you think about it and squint your eyes and tilt your head to the side. Again, this is all speculation, but Germain Lussier has a pretty quality hypothesis over at the original article.
Sadly, since the whole rumor is completely unsubstantiated, we're going to have to take it with a massive grain of salt. However, this is such a good idea for a spin-off flick that we're going to be bummed if it doesn't see the light.
Top Image by Ken Taylor.