Rogue One Will Most Likely be the First Star Wars Film Without an Opening Crawl

Star Wars fans know what they’re getting at the start of every installment. The fanfare begins, and we see the iconic opening crawl that sets up what we’re about to see. That transition will be broken with Rogue One, which will forgo the opening crawl. In an interview with Variety, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy all but confirmed this, explaining that the film “most likely” won’t have an opening crawl.

“We felt that’s so indicative of what those saga films are,” Kennedy said. “Initially, we probably will begin the film in a way that is traditional, with just the title.”

Kennedy also discussed the Han Solo origin film starring Alden Ehrenreich as Solo, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, and huge-deal new addition Emilia “Daenerys Targaryen” Clarke in an unspecified role. “This [film] moves closer to a heist or Western type feel,” Kennedy said. “We’ve talked about [Frederic] Remington and those primary colors that are used in his paintings defining the look and feel of the film.”

The interview also revealed that Kennedy has made finding a female director for the Star Wars universe a priority. The challenge comes with finding someone who has enough experience. “We want to make sure that when we bring a female director in to do Star Wars, they’re set up for success. They’re gigantic films, and you can’t come into them with essentially no experience,” Kennedy said. “We want to really start to focus in on people we would love to work with and see what kinds of things they’re doing to progress up that ladder now, and then pull them in when the time is right.”

The Star Wars universe may be low on female directors, but it’s no longer low on female protagonists. Rogue One, the latest in that trend, will hit theaters on Dec. 16. Read Kennedy’s full interview with Variety here.