There are a few things you can always count on in life. Profound universal truths. Things like death, taxes, and the merchandising blitz that accompanies every new ‘Star Wars’ film. And unlike the two trilogies produced under the stewardship of George Lucas, we, of course, have more to look forward to than just the two sequels to ‘The Force Awakens’. In order to have a ‘Star Wars’ film in theaters every year, Disney is producing so-called anthology films alongside the sequel trilogy. The first of those anthology films will be out in a little over two months, and as you might expect, its marketing blitz is well under way.
One of the more interesting pieces of marketing for ‘The Force Awakens’ was the ‘Star Wars Card Trader’ app from Topps. Available as a free download (albeit one with a plethora of in-app purchase options) through Apple’s App Store and Google Play, the app is essentially a digital version of the trading card sets that have long been associated with ‘Star Wars’ merchandise.
Today sees the limited time release (it will only be available through the end of this weekend) of the ‘Rogue One Premiere’ set. As the name of the set implies, these cards feature characters and imagery inspired by the upcoming film. In particular, they give us a better look than many of the trailers have to date at some of the new characters, in particular the droid KS20 (played by Alan Tudyk) and the Imperial Death Troopers.
You can see a selection of the cards featured in the ‘Rogue One Premiere’ set below:
Directed by Gareth Edwards, ‘Rogue One’ takes place shortly before the original 1977 film, following a group of Rebel spies who find themselves tasked with stealing the plans to the Death Star and delivering them to the Alliance.
‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ will be in theaters on December 16, 2016, almost exactly one year after the release of ‘The Force Awakens’. The film stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, and Alan Tudyk.
