John Knoll Discusses Rogue One Planet Size.

John-Knoll1A few days ago, Ain’t It Cool News reporter Copernicus took an estimate the distance of the Death Star from the planet it was orbiting in the recent Rogue One teaser. Not one to be out-nerded, ILM tech wizard (who also came up with the Rogue One story) John Knoll crafted one HELL of a response to Copernicus’s estimations by explaining the physics of the brief pre-production teaser.

 

 

Knoll started by explaining that the Death Star in the trailer was initially 100 miles in diameter, and that the planet itself was 8000 miles. However, with those proportions, the Death Star would intersect the planet – or, in layman’s terms, the two objects would collide, and their surfaces would be fried. To get around this, they re-classified the planet as a “moon” by shrinking the diameter down to 590 miles – a size comparable to the planetoid Ceres in our Solar System’s Asteroid Belt. (So yes, that is both a moon and a space station that you’re looking at in the below “money shot”.)

 

 

Death Star

 

From there, Knoll explained that this hypothetical moon would have to be pretty dense in order for the surface gravity of the moon to work. That TIE that flew by, therefore, had to be pretty sturdy, as did the fauna that flew by. The explanation of how exactly two such objects could exist in close proximity is discussed even further here.

 

The moral of this story? We love Star Wars not because of its science fiction qualities, but because it’s a science fantasy where any science-defying thing can happen for the sake of memorable visuals. That also probably explains why there was never an Endor HolocaustLegends universe or not.

 

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Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

28 thoughts on “John Knoll Discusses Rogue One Planet Size.

  • April 24, 2015 at 7:03 pm
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    I’m getting really tired of seeing the death star in Star Wars films. Can’t filmmakers find something else original to threaten the safety of our good guys? Too bad the “Anthology” films are going to milk the OT dry of ideas till the end of time.

    • April 24, 2015 at 7:45 pm
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      Ha I was going to say the same thing. Who wouldn’t want to see how we got to the first line in the Ep 4 crawl. That always intrigued me even to the days of Dark Forces when you actually steal the Death Star Plans

    • April 24, 2015 at 7:45 pm
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      The problem that Lucas had with the prequels was that “he had to be different” to the successful OT, otherwise he would have been accused of being repetitive. JJ can go “old school” as much as he likes, after the prequels people will love him for it. The trailers certainly look as if design wise he sticks very closely to the OTs. This is of course good, but Lucas did not really have this option. People expect of Lucas to do something new (he himlself seems to have expected that), after all the OT were a new style. JJ is a copy paste man with no creative demands on himself. He will take what is known to work and do it again. He turned Star Trek into “yet another Ironman”-like movie and of course it sold. I am quite confident that it may work for Star Wars, too.

      BTW, this is not supposed to be a criticism of anything or anyone.

      • April 24, 2015 at 10:24 pm
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        Lucas didn’t HAVE to do anything.. he could of steered the ship in any direction he wanted. And JJ is actually being a lot more creative than you’re giving him credit for.. he could of went with Lucas’ treatment, but he’s going in a different direction and giving us something new.

      • April 24, 2015 at 10:57 pm
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        Very well put. I only disagree on a couple of things:

        First off, Lucas did the right thing by taking a different approach with the PT. It only makes sense that the galaxy would be radically different under the rule of the Republic and the protection of the Jedi.

        His mistake was trying to recreate the magic “for 12-yr. olds” of the OT. As a result, the PT turned out to be too juvenile, and he should’ve realized that he had to come up with something much darker (a la the last half of RotS), because this was a much darker story.

        Secondly, I’m not really sure if Abrams will succeed, only because TFA seems to be an OT nostalgia fest. This guy’s a filmmaker, not the creator of the saga, and he certainly shouldn’t be seen as the savior of SW.

        If his film fails to please the many fans that have already imagined what TFA should be like in their minds (as was the case with the PT, precisely) he might even end up getting more heat than Lucas himself.

        And you’re absolutely correct: J.J. Abrams is a simple paste-up guy. He couldn’t be as creative as Lucas in his wildest dreams. Here’s hoping that Kasdan can bail out the guy.

        • April 25, 2015 at 12:41 pm
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          I feel like JJ is not given a fair fight in this case. You all are basing it off of Star Trek. Subject matter in which he wasn’t passionate about and even admits to it. Is he some blow your mind director? Not necessarily but he’s a good writer, and to be honest, to take something as socially abscure like Star Trek, make it entertaining and good to the masses like he did, with having hardly love for the show or movies, or even knowing dick about them, he did pretty good. I feel like the biggest complaint I’ve ever heard was his lens flares lol. Which is pretty silly. To love them or hate them THAT much.

          I think his passion for Star Wars, how good he is at making something he couldn’t care less about, teamed with his writing, a huge support system, and tons of great actors, effects teams, and just all the true fans trying to make it the best they can do for their childhood love, I really don’t think there’s much to worry about. The teasers alone have blown minds. And they have shown nothing lol. Not to mention the attitude people have who have worked on the movie are stoked about everything they know so far, I have a good feeling it’ll be damn good. It’s easy to spot fake hype, and it seems they’re all blown away.

          • April 25, 2015 at 11:22 pm
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            Star Trek has never been socially obscure,or abscure as you call it. Luckily I like both and look forward to both new movies.

      • April 25, 2015 at 6:40 pm
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        If only everyone ended a response with “BTW, this is not supposed to be a criticism of anything or anyone.” !!!

      • April 29, 2015 at 5:54 am
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        “This is not a criticism of anything or anyone.” That’s funny. Either criticize or don’t, but don’t criticize someone (which you did) and then try to pretend you didn’t! That just comes across as wormy.
        Free advice. You’re welcome.

    • April 24, 2015 at 8:42 pm
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      and 3 years ago we were all whining that the SW saga ended at Ep VI.

  • April 24, 2015 at 7:14 pm
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    this still is a cool idea: the stealing of the death star plans by an elite rebel team , code name rogue one. whats not to like ? we get to see original tie fighters, y wings and x wings in action, original stormtroopers, AT AT walkers…..a chance to see admiral Ackbar do a briefing scene, maybe on older Jimmy Smiths on Alderaan ( now is the chance to do it ) maybe a cameo by The Emperor…..

    • April 24, 2015 at 7:17 pm
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      Ooh. I like the Jimmy Smitts idea.

      • April 24, 2015 at 8:46 pm
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        100% agree! Bail, Wedge, Madine, Ackbar, Mon Mothma,Emperor, Vader….Fett. Lots of character potential w/ this “Anthology”.

  • April 24, 2015 at 7:18 pm
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    I don’t know if I love or hate the scientific mumbojumbo that goes into a Star Wars film. On one hand, Star Wars is science fantasy, so suspending disbelief is necessary. In other words, just watch the dang movie!

    But on the other hand…the mumbojumbo can lead to some pretty crafty explanations and new story elements!

    • April 24, 2015 at 8:50 pm
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      Ever see a short little green guy move a sunken plane just by raising his arm? Physics and scientific fact went out the window the moment the Star Wars scroll hit the screen

  • April 24, 2015 at 7:23 pm
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    Yes I feel that they’re milking the OT to death like beating a dead horse but I love SW and want to see this nonetheless. Hopefully the next trilogy and the upcoming anthology series will go forward with new creative ideas, nevertheless I’m starving for more SW!!!

    • April 24, 2015 at 7:42 pm
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      I believe the purpose for the Anthology films is to delve into plots and characters from the era of the previous films. They definitely won’t be going beside or beyond the timeline of the new saga films. The furthest into the future we will see them go with the Anthology films is between Ep.6 and 7. The first 1 or 2 films for sure will be centered around stuff we are very familiar with just for the sake of selling this Anthology branding.

  • April 24, 2015 at 7:39 pm
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    UNLESS It’s not in space? But stationed ON the planet… Though I’m not sure how that would be allowed by physics as we know it…

  • April 24, 2015 at 7:58 pm
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    Time setting of the anthology series appear to depend on the story . It is sad Disney is yet to come up with Boba Fett story.

  • April 24, 2015 at 8:06 pm
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    Seems like the horizon would be much closer and more curved if it’s on a body the size of Ceres. Let alone, being able to support an atmosphere and advanced ecosystem.

    How about “It was an awesome teaser shot, meant to get people excited and is not necessarily accurate to physics or the movie itself – honestly, we haven’t even started filming yet.”

  • April 24, 2015 at 9:38 pm
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    AICN still staying relevant…somehow.

    • April 25, 2015 at 1:59 am
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      and elvis lives

  • April 25, 2015 at 2:05 am
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    The LOL factor here is Star Wars fans demanding a ‘scientific explanation’. I got one word for anyone demanding a scientific explanation over this: Midichlorians.

  • April 25, 2015 at 2:21 am
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    I’m so glad we’re getting something other than some cheesy Jedi/Sith story. If anything is overdone in Star Wars, it’s that stuff. There’s gotta be something else going on in the SW universe besides hokey religions and ancient weapons.

  • April 26, 2015 at 12:45 pm
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  • April 27, 2015 at 9:45 pm
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    They can easily keep that Deathstar shot and have it be feasible without reducing the planet to a small moon. All they need to do is do an extreme zoom to the horizon which reveals the deathstar (like when the Falcon flies into the giant engine). The more zoomed in a camera is the larger the background objects look in relation to the foreground. Think Elliot cycling in front of the moon in ET.

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