‘Rogue One’ Reviews, Trailer Ensure Packed Star Wars Showtimes For Opening Premiere

Rogue One reviews are in, and if they are any indication, the showtimes for the opening of the new Star Wars film will be packed. Below you can take a look at the new short Star Wars trailer released today, properly entitled “Tonight,” as fans get ready to take their seats for one of the most-anticipated films of the year.

In itself, Rogue One reviews and revisits an older time in the Star Wars franchise, before the events depicted in the 1977 film, A New Hope, the first film released in the Star Wars universe. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story follows the story of a group of Rebel Alliance soldiers who steal the plans to the dreaded Death Star, a weapon of mass destruction designed and constructed by their foes, the Galactic Empire. Part of the new Star Wars Anthology series of films from new franchise owner Disney, the film is a departure from the story line established by last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The new Star Wars film is garnering excellent reviews from fans and critics alike thus far. Film director and noted Star Wars fan Kevin Smith had nothing but good things to say in his Rogue One review, as reported by Inquisitr.

“It was beyond good. It was fantastic. It was amazing, and maybe my bar wasn’t high but it wasn’t in the s****** either. I expected something. I did not expect this movie. They did not prepare us for what this movie is. I wouldn’t say they’re hiding what this movie is, like this movie is fan f******-tastic.”

The expletive filled Rogue One review from Smith also revealed that the Dogma, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy directer and Comic Book Men TV show creator had low expectations going into the film, but he now considers it to be among the best in the Star Wars franchise.

Smith isn’t alone. Film rating site Rotten Tomatoes aggregates the current Rogue One reviews at 85 percent positive, with a “want to see” rating of 99 percent, which suggests packed Star Wars showtimes tonight.

“Rogue One draws deep on Star Wars mythology while breaking new narrative and aesthetic ground — and suggesting a bright blockbuster future for the franchise.”

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will almost certainly fill seats during opening weekend showtimes, but it will also have to live up to high expectations. Last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens grossed $247.9 million at the box office in the first three days it was open to the public, according to Screen Rant, and ended up grossing $2 billion worldwide. The Force Awakens was the first of the Disney Star Wars films and fans had been waiting 10 years for a new film in the franchise. The positive Rogue One reviews aside, this is a daunting level of expectation. Still, the film is currently thought to be able to reach between $120 million and $150 million this weekend, and if reaction to the Star Wars trailers and the Rogue One reviews are any indication, fans are certainly going to come out in droves to the opening showtimes and well beyond.

Disney has, perhaps as a matter of strategy, downplayed the expectations surrounding Rogue One, claiming that they do not expect the anthology films to perform as well as the new, core trilogy that began with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, fans may be eager to revisit the familiar timeline of the original trilogy. Kevin Smith, in his Rogue One review, even compared this new addition to the Star Wars canon to be of the same quality level as the second film of the original trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back, considered by many fans to be the best of all the films. What is not in doubt is that hardcore fans and newcomers alike will be searching out local Rogue One showtimes this weekend, and the reviews indicate that they will not be disappointed.

[Featured Image by Colin Young-Wolff/AP Images]