Gary Whitta, one of the writers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, has revealed that his original pitch was for Darth Vader’s big scene to be located on Scarif.
There is no denying that Darth Vader’s corridor scene where he mows his way through Rebels in an attempt to retrieve the stolen Death Star plans is one of the film’s most memorable sequences.
But this fan-favourite moment wasn’t what Rogue One writer Gary Whitta originally had in mind. Taking to Twitter, Whitta has revealed that he originally pitched a scene where Vader arrived on the ground at Scarif and engaged in an action-packed scene where he battled Rebels.
“The version I pitched (but never wrote) had Vader on the Scarif beach single-handedly slaughtering his way through a Rebel blockade at the base of the Imperial tower. The version in the Raddus hallway works much better because it’s so contained, feels more horror than action.”
The version I pitched (but never wrote) had Vader on the Scarif beach single-handedly slaughtering his way through a Rebel blockade at the base of the Imperial tower. The version in the Raddus hallway works much better because it’s so contained, feels more horror than action. https://t.co/0BLNp2l6YK
— Gary Whitta (inactive) (@garywhitta) July 23, 2018
While the scene we received in Rogue One was unquestionably a great addition to the movie, showcasing Vader’s brutal skills like never before on screen, the scene described by Whitta above would have surely been an exciting moment as well. Would you agree with Whitta that the right decision was made in the end?
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From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story sees Gareth Edwards (Monsters) directing a cast that includes Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Diego Luna (Milk), Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Alan Tudyk (Con Man), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), Genevieve O’Reilly (Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith), Jimmy Smits (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones), James Earl Jones (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope), Valene Kane (The Fall), Alistair Petrie (The Night Manager), Warwick Davis (Star Wars: Episode IV – Return of the Jedi), Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones) and Jonathan Aris (Sherlock).