Gareth Edwards Reveals How They Used a Never Before Seen Footage from A New Hope in Rogue One

Actor Drewe Henley aka: Red Leader as seen in the 1997′ Star Wars Special Edition added footage.

 

Gareth Edwards spoke with RadioTimes this week and dropped some interesting details about the two familiar X-Wing pilots that appear in the ‘Battle of Scarif’ sequence in Rogue One. Check out what he had to say after the jump….

 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story blasted into theaters this week earning an estimated $155.5 million dollars in its first weekend at the box-office. Set between the events of Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith and Star Wars: A New Hope, Rogue One does an incredible job at launching Disney’s series of Star Wars stand-alone films, adding important back story to the new canon.

 

One of the most interesting additions to the film was the digital resurrections of Garven Dreis and Jon Vander, the Red and Gold Leader X-Wing pilots seen in the 1977 blockbuster flick. The two characters were added into the ‘Battle of Scarif’ sequence after Gareth Edwards came across some never-before-used footage, while doing research for his all-new spin-off film.

 

“We went to Skywalker ranch, and there’s the archives there. And as we’re walking around, and doing all the cool things and looking at the Millennium Falcon and trying on Han Solo’s jacket and things like that, in the back at the bottom was all these cans of film. And we said ‘what are they?’ and they said ‘Oh, it’s Star Wars.‘ And you go… ‘has someone gone through all this? And it’s like ‘not really, they’re not fully like digitized at all.’”

 

 

Edwards decided that he and his team needed to take a closer look at what really was at the bottom of all those film cans. After going through each film reel they found out that some included extensive previously unseen footage and unheard lines from the original Star Wars film. Edwards was told the footage hadn’t really been looked through in a while because it wasn’t digitized, so he grabbed the negatives and pored through the footage himself.

 

“We got the neg documents and found the clips from A New Hope that hadn’t been used,” he recalled. “And there’s pilot photography and lines that were never featured in A New Hope.”

 

After he found the original negatives that included the deleted scenes of the pilots, mainly from the Death Star attack at the end of the film, he also found an X-Wing call sign exchange that didn’t make it into the film as well.

 

It was at this point that Edwards thought that it would be cool if some of the newly found footage could be used in his new film. So, he enlisted the magicians over at Industrial Light & Magic to see if anything could be done. With the help of the best effects crew in the world, they managed to figure out a way to add the famous pilots’ scenes into the 3rd act of the film.

 

 

Later, Edwards said that he basically jumped for joy when he heard the fan reactions when Garven Dreis and Jon Vander’s character appeared on screen during its L.A. premier.

 

“At the world premiere in LA, there was this massive cheer at a particular point in the film,” Edwards said, referencing the pilots’ appearance. “It was the only time during the premiere where I actually punched the air.”

 

My take: This was one of those moments that had me doing a double take when I first watched the film in the theater this week. So many things that was done right in the movie and this was one of them. Now, get out and see Gareth Edwards’ masterpiece…. again!

 

Star Wars: Rogue One is in theaters now

 

May the Force be with us!

 

 

+ posts

74 thoughts on “Gareth Edwards Reveals How They Used a Never Before Seen Footage from A New Hope in Rogue One

  • December 19, 2016 at 7:16 pm
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    Awesome, until now I thought they had been digitally created like Tarkin.

    • December 19, 2016 at 9:03 pm
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      Yeah I thought they took the footage from New Hope and digitally altered their lips or whatever. Added sound alikes or altered the audio from Hope as well.

  • December 19, 2016 at 7:17 pm
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    I know the ” human ” cgi work hasn’t been perfected YET but what i saw in this movie really rekindled my hopes of one day seeing a Shadows of the Empire stand alone film.

    • December 19, 2016 at 9:45 pm
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      …..why?

    • December 19, 2016 at 10:19 pm
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      they’re never going to make a movie from a novel. It wouldn’t make any sense even if possible. Its a lose-lose situation anyway, because either they stay true to the novel and everyone knows what happens or they divert from it and get criticized by fans for ruining star wars. Best to make new stories.

      • December 19, 2016 at 11:31 pm
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        Especially a Legends novel..

  • December 19, 2016 at 7:34 pm
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    The “cameos” of Red Leader and Gold Leader were just awesome. Lots of things in Rogue One gave me goosebumps, but this was very unexpected. Their “We’re beginning our run” lines we edited seamlessly to end with “on the shield gate” to relate to the Battle of Scarif. Brilliant!

  • December 19, 2016 at 8:53 pm
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    There are tins of unseen footage literally rotting away at the Lucasfilm archives – Ohh the humanity!
    Hope this encourages someone there to save the footage for posterity.

  • December 19, 2016 at 9:02 pm
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    It’s gotta be awesome to be Edwards right now. That the fans love him and his movie. I mean imagine the pressure. If it’s one thing we all know well… how salty the fans can get when it doesn’t meet expectations.

    • December 20, 2016 at 12:58 am
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      Unfortunately there are still some salty people. Hell my brother was like “It was good, but I wanted Jedi.” I was like, well that’s your fault for not knowing what the movie was about for going. LOL

      • December 20, 2016 at 1:44 am
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        I guess it’s true. My personal bias towards the movie is it really hit home all the things I love about Star Wars. Where I guess if maybe someone loved something else (read jedi)… it left them feeling a bit wanting.

      • December 20, 2016 at 4:44 am
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        My brother and mother didn’t mention the lack of Jedi. I doubt they even noticed, lol!

      • December 23, 2016 at 4:55 pm
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        You’ll never please everyone and I think R1 is a lot less divisive than TFA. The worst reactions it’s getting are still grudgingly admitting it’s fun.

    • December 20, 2016 at 4:43 pm
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      The fact that he directed a good film is like Micheal Bay making a Best Picture winner. The shock still hasn’t registered with me yet.

      • December 20, 2016 at 4:55 pm
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        I liked Monsters. I think Godzilla was a bit of a mess. It focused on the humans and I still didn’t care about them. The brief fight between monsters was cool though.

        • December 20, 2016 at 6:14 pm
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          I see him as Disney’s Kershner. He came from humble beginnings and then something magical happened when stepped into the director’s chair. Hope he comes back someday, Seems to really get what the OT was all about.

  • December 19, 2016 at 10:23 pm
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    Now this is true dedication.

  • December 19, 2016 at 10:24 pm
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    I thought they took the actual actors and made them look young digitally. But it sure was cool seeing them there. Knowing it was the proper timeline, it’s like listening to a Beatles bootleg. It’s the real deal and not a “cover.”

    • December 20, 2016 at 12:20 am
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      That was my thought initially – but that explains why the faces and voices were just perfect

  • December 19, 2016 at 11:05 pm
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    “the rest has now became cinematic history”

    “when I first seen the film”

    Please learn to spoken a good grammer.

    • December 20, 2016 at 12:19 am
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      I could care less about good gramma. (I seen what you did there, though!)

      • December 20, 2016 at 12:28 am
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        You’re grammar is preddy terible.

        • December 20, 2016 at 12:35 am
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          Look whose talking 🙂

          • December 20, 2016 at 4:21 am
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            whose whose whose whose whose whose whose whose whose whose

            T R I G G E R E D

          • December 20, 2016 at 7:58 am
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            whose triggered?

        • December 20, 2016 at 12:34 pm
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          Between grammar and spalling, differences are there.

          • December 20, 2016 at 6:25 pm
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            *their

    • December 20, 2016 at 12:20 am
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      Not everyone on the internet is english.

      • December 20, 2016 at 12:26 am
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        And I understand that. I was just under the impression that this website had a proofreader. in the end it’s just a nitpick.

        • December 20, 2016 at 3:23 am
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          just a nitpick by a nitwit.

          • December 20, 2016 at 4:17 am
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            badum tssssssssssssssssssssss

  • December 19, 2016 at 11:07 pm
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    When I saw them in the film I think it hit me the most that they would go through the trouble of finding some footage to put them in like that. It would have been so easy to pass over pilots, but by adding them it just makes me giddy seeing them again.

  • December 20, 2016 at 12:04 am
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    This movie and effects team are going to clean house in the technical awards this spring

  • December 20, 2016 at 12:17 am
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    My jaw dropped when I saw Red Leader and Gold Leader – then returned to the massive smile it remained in for the whole 3rd act

  • December 20, 2016 at 12:43 am
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    If they could remaster unused footage from the original film….Here’s hoping they could actually bring back the unaltered original trilogy one day…the 40th anniversary is next year after all..

    • December 20, 2016 at 1:45 am
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      A New Hope indeed!

    • December 20, 2016 at 2:04 am
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      Oh they could do it, they have the technology, they just don’t have the rights

      • December 20, 2016 at 4:43 am
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        Yet. Hopefully. Maybe.

        Please.

      • December 20, 2016 at 10:33 am
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        If Sony and Marvel could figure out how to play nice, Fox and Disney can too. Again, Fox can’t make any money off their distribution if Disney won’t produce anything to be distributed – it’s good for both companies and will happen.

        • December 21, 2016 at 12:46 am
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          I still think they’ll respect George and/or there’s some sort of clause preventing them from altering the films anymore.

  • December 20, 2016 at 1:13 am
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    I know we have heard them all but I have a theory of my own on where snoke might be now. I think he will be in the castle place that Vader was in in Rogue one. Its why kylo Ren is so drawn to him and it will add to the drama when he goes to visit snoke In episode 8. Thoughts anyone?

    • December 20, 2016 at 2:05 am
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      Are you saying that snoke is the monk that informs Vader that Krennick is at the door? It sounds very interesting!!

      • December 20, 2016 at 3:22 am
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        If the latest rumors are true, that Snoke is going to be an 8 foot tall puppet, then any normal sized human, like this old monk, by definition cannot be Snoke

        • December 20, 2016 at 2:31 pm
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          Also, that monk has a name, and he’s his own character.

      • December 20, 2016 at 2:30 pm
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        already been debunked by pablo hidalgo before “people start running with this nonsense”

        • December 21, 2016 at 12:01 am
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          That “people start running with this nonsense” thing was what the person said who asked the question and not Hidalgo himself although he did say that he was his own character

    • December 20, 2016 at 2:06 am
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      That would actually be really cool to revisit Vader’s Castle, and even nicer to tie in the Orig Trig with the new movies a bit more. I will also accept if Snoke is based on Morriban/Korriban place of the sith origin, because then we could get some awesome lore from there. And how cool would it be to have Luke at the origin place of the jedi, but Snoke at the origin place of the sith?

      • December 20, 2016 at 11:59 pm
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        Yes that sounds very cool I would love that!

    • December 20, 2016 at 4:43 pm
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      I don’t see any reason for it. Snoke is not a Sith.

      • December 21, 2016 at 12:03 am
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        That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have appreciation for them. He isn’t a sigh the same way kylo ren isn’t but he loves Vader and snoke being there would keep ren on his side

        • December 21, 2016 at 1:42 am
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          He might think the Sith suck b/c they didn’t get the job done. It’s all speculation.

  • December 20, 2016 at 1:58 am
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    THANKS TO DISNEY ABOUT THIS BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE OF MOVIE (ROGUE ONE)!!!

    • December 20, 2016 at 4:43 pm
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      Thanks to LFL

      • December 23, 2016 at 7:50 am
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        How many times are you going to inform us of the LFL-Disney relationship before you realize that you’re the only one who cares? /s

        • December 23, 2016 at 4:10 pm
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          Until people learn to know what the hell they are talking about.

          • December 24, 2016 at 5:55 pm
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            ( ̄^ ̄)

  • December 20, 2016 at 2:20 am
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    I guess there wasn’t any usable Biggs material.

    • December 20, 2016 at 2:23 am
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      He was (by ANH novelization, which I believe is canon) on Tatooine chilling with his friends and Luke.

      • December 20, 2016 at 4:42 am
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        The only ANH novelization that is canon is The Princess, The Farm Boy, and The Scoundrel.

        • December 20, 2016 at 11:29 pm
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          And the Wizard.

          • December 21, 2016 at 3:11 am
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            Wizard, Ani!!

    • December 20, 2016 at 1:35 pm
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      Or Wedge! (Boo!) I swear there was a guy (not Biggs) in a blue helmet, who sorta looked like Biggs. Hard to tell, though since (apparently) 90% of male humans had bad porn mustaches in 1976-77…

      • December 20, 2016 at 4:42 pm
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        Wedge in ANH: “Look at the size of that thing!”

        He’s not seen the Death Star so having him at the Battle of Scarif wouldn’t be consistent.

        • December 20, 2016 at 5:02 pm
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          Oh…thought he ran into Chewie changing pants in the locker room when he said that… *ZING*

          • December 20, 2016 at 7:48 pm
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            No reason to think he didn’t.

          • December 23, 2016 at 11:00 am
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            If he had been in the battle at Scarif, then he would have already seen the Death Star, and wouldn’t have been amaed at seeing it in ANH, nor said the line “Look at the size of that thing!”

          • December 23, 2016 at 4:08 pm
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            That’s exactly what I said, two comments up. I was referring to his joke about seeing Chewie in the locker room.

  • December 20, 2016 at 4:42 pm
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    Ah, I could have sworn it was in IV as I watched it after I got home on opening day then saw it again the next night. I was a amazed at how accurate the extras were to the OT era.

    • December 20, 2016 at 4:42 pm
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      The cinematography and production design too.

  • December 20, 2016 at 7:49 pm
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    Red Leader is the X-Wing commander and Gold Leader is the Y-Wing commander. Just for clarification, both did not pilot X Wings.

  • December 21, 2016 at 12:12 am
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    ‘Oh, it’s Star Wars.‘ And you go… ‘has someone gone through all this? And it’s like ‘not really, they’re not fully like digitized at all.’”

    You would think somebody would have been on that like a fly on some bantha poo doo. Seriously what the hell?

    • December 21, 2016 at 12:44 am
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      Probably scared George would do more weird stuff with ANH-Special Special Special Special Extra Sauce Edition

      • December 21, 2016 at 4:48 am
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        I think it’s more likely that there’s just SO MUCH shit in the archives, because Lucas saved literally every piece of film he or ILM shot for each film. I imagine cataloguing it all during the prequel years was a low priority, and the company has been in a full-on 180 degree shift from licensing to production since the sale that it’s remained a low priority to figure out what all they have stuffed in the bottom of all their boxes.

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