A billion dollars and some great reviews later, Disney/Lucasfilm must be pretty delighted that John Knoll decided to pitch them the idea for a “Star Wars” spin-off that turned into last year’s blockbuster ‘Rogue One.’ I mean, sure, you could have stuck the ‘A Star Wars Story‘ subtitle onto “Queen Of Katwe” and it probably would have made hundreds of millions of dollars, but ‘Rogue One’ was a rare prequel and spin-off that felt truly satisfying, and was about as successful a launch to non-Skywalker stories within the universe as you could ask for.
What’s interesting about it is that the idea came from Knoll, not an A-list screenwriter or filmmaker, but a veteran Industrial Light & Magic visual effects supervisor (he’s currently the chief creative officer at ILM) who’s worked on countless blockbusters, including the “Star Wars” prequels. His concept — a heist to steal the Death Star plans, as mentioned in passing in the opening crawl for ‘A New Hope‘ — was a simple but brilliant one, and earned him story credit on the movie. And now, via The Hollywood Reporter, Knoll says he might have another idea up his sleeve.
“I have another idea I’ve been tinkering with,” Knoll told the National Association Of Broadcasters during a ‘Rogue One’-centric event. “It’s maybe 75 percent there. I haven’t pitched it to [Kathleen Kennedy]. It’s another ‘Star Wars’ thing.” Unsurprisingly, Knoll wasn’t ready to spill the beans on exactly what it is, but hinted that it wouldn’t just be a group of rebels trying to steal the plans to Starkiller Base or something close to ‘Rogue One’ again. “There’s no reason to think Disney is going to stop wanting to make ‘Star Wars’ movies if there’s quality and there’s interest. It has unlimited potential. It has a huge number of characters, worlds…It’s a massive playground.”
With no further “Star Wars Stories” announced beyond next year’s Han Solo prequel, we’re sure Kennedy will be receptive to whatever Knoll’s pitching, given the success of ‘Rogue One.’ So long as it’s not “Young Jar-Jar: A Star Wars Story,” obviously…