joshua ( also known as the devil 's child ) is a 2007 american psychological thriller horror film about an affluent young manhattan family and how they are torn apart by the increasingly sadistic behavior of their disturbed son , joshua .

the film was directed and co-written by george ratliff , and stars sam rockwell , vera farmiga and jacob kogan .

it was released on july 6 , 2007 in the united states by fox searchlight pictures .

joshua ( 2007 film )

teaser poster for the theatrical release of 28 weeks later . © 2007 twentieth century fox film corporation
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song download : urltoken a lyrics video for the fly written by dave matthews and preformed by jacob kogan ( who played joshua in the film ) from the soundtrack joshua ( 2007 ) . joshua is an american psychological horror / thriller film and was written by george ratliff and david gilbert , directed by george ratliff , and produced by johnathan dorfman .
( 2007 ) is one of these fear - of - children films , good of kind . it was briefly packaged as
joshua ( 2007 ) directed by george ratliff cast : sam rockwell , vera farmiga , jacob kogan , celia weston , dallas roberts , michael mckean , nancy giles , linda larkin , alex draper , stephanie roth haberle , ezra barnes , jodie markell , rufus collins , haviland morris 2007  105 minutes rated : ( for language and thematic elements involving a child ) . reviewed by dustin putman , july 14 , 2007 .
african american cinema archives b . ruby rich blu - ray / dvd reviews book reviews chinese cinema digital media documentary feminism film festivals film reviews french cinema hollywood interviews joshua clover paul julian smith race and film rob white social justice television
mr . rockwell with jacob kogan , rear , and vera farmiga in a scene from the film joshua .
one theater . three days . $ 279 in 2007 . that’s pretty much the full theatrical story of mary mcguckian’s tale of addiction , which won the director a best feature film award at the 2007 san diego film festival—and a best actress honor for jennifer tilly , who is just one member of an enormous cast that includes andie macdowell , colm feore , rupert graves , and former baywatch babe donna d’errico .
how is joshua not titled portrait of the serial killer as a young boy ? that ' s just as perfect a description of this film as i can manage . the film carefully and precisely constructs our notion of who the titular character is through a series of increasingly alarming behavior which is at its creepiest when the film is quiet , the mark of any great atmospheric horror film .
new york - - although dave matthews ' face is never seen in the new movie
joshua ,
he plays a crucial role in the spooky film , writing the song the demented child character croons as the film draws to a close .
- - advisory : this film contains mild violence , disturbing scenes and strong language .
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vera farmiga ( image on screen ) and jacob kogan in
joshua .
joshua bell - the four seasons
summer
iii . presto ( video )
box office chart held few surprises . every film in the top five was close to our
, barely earned a quarter of that . i don’t think any film will come close to
i loved this when i first saw it back in 2007 . revisiting the film confirmed that it ' s some kind of masterpiece .
joshua
is one of the most grounded and realistic
evil kid movies
i ' ve ever seen . like the best efforts in this genre , it not only taps into extreme fears , but it sheds light on the everyday anxieties of parenthood .
could have learned a thing or two from what
joshua
offers up .
joshua clover is the author of the matrix ( bfi modern classics , 2004 ) .
joshua ( jacob kogan ) feat . dave matthews - the fly ( full version )
won the race to the top of the box office chart and did so with ease . however , that film , and practically every film in the top five , failed to live up to expectations .
poised self - consciously between art and entertainment , joshua offers imaginative staging and some superb performances .
joshua ' s fondness is somehow evidence of an even deeper evil , & that first glint of understanding in his uncle ' s expression at the end is the film ' s best , quietest chill .
, as the film earned $ 41 . 46 million during its first day in china , and $ 47 . 55 million if you include previews . the international numbers will save this film and justify more sequels .
the film is the ultimate birth control . if you plan on one day having kids , don ' t see this film . if you already have children , you will never look at them the same way again .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing joshua near you .
an open - ended plot - boiler of a film , joshua is a startlingly disturbing tale of domestic implosion . the introduction of a new baby starts unraveling the family at the center of the film , exacerbating the mother with its incessant cries and putting the father in the midst of an increasingly hard to control home environment , with…
. for example , the film earned first place in russia with $ 11 . 42 million over the weekend , while
at first , joshua invites you almost to imagine the boy ' s sense of rejection and growing frustration .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
joshua is one of those horror films where after you are done viewing it , you just sit there and think about what you have experienced , about what you have just gone through . it ' s a film that made me think , wondor , and just kept me at an uneasy , unsettling feeling after the film had ended . director , george ratliff has crafted a very dark and very disturbing film about a disturbed , yet highly intelligent young 9 - year old boy named joshua , as his erratic behavior slowly starts to tare apart the family . i don ' t want to say too much , but this is a very creepy and sophistacated horror film that will truly keep you on your feet ! sam rockwell and vera farmiga portray…
ratliff never acknowledges that his audience has likely seen this setup dozens of times before , making the film feel laborious and unsurprising .
their vile abusive parents , would be vastly more credible , though it ' s just not been done that way in film .
this movie moved waaay too slow for its own good . i know the director was going for that show - burn dread that i like so much in artful contemporary horror , but they payoff in this film was infinitsimal . there are so many interesting avenues this film could have explored , but it introduced then abandoned every one of them . joshua and his grandmother ' s rabid religiosity , abby ' s sever recurrent post - partum depression , the inherent tensions between brad ' s homelife and career and joshua ' s own emotional turmoil are all completely wasted here . i think that the shifting focus between the characters in this film was a mistake . first it ' s abby , and she ' s quickly disposed of , then it would appear to be joshua for a little while , and the plot finally settles on the unravelling brad . just when it looks like they ' re going to grant joshua some depth , they flatten him out again . which is the biggest shame in the film , because he could have proven to be a new breed of bad seed . oh well .
there ' s a subtle little fillip at the end which showed joshua capable of something approximating love , for his faggy attentive uncle , which puts joshua ' s effete good grooming , love of museums , & hatred of sports , in a slightly homophobic context .
like we were thinking ,
then went back to see if the film could be edited to include a reference or two to the title .
but ratliff has made a genre film , and if you make a genre film , you either fulfill the genre , transform it , transcend it or apotheosize it . you can ' t do it halfway , and you can ' t offer up something that ' s not quite as satisfying .
the video tape joshua pulls from the drawer to watch is dated 2 / 29 / 1997 . 1997 was not a leap year .
history , in its lumbering way , can still outpace hollywood . the original trailer for the kingdom ( peter berg , 2007 ) played late last year , promising the purest propaganda film of the era . an american base in saudi arabia has been suicide - bombed by a terrorist mastermind . voice of liberal reason : “you have to let the tools of diplomacy work . ” cue jennifer garner , no - nonsense forensics expert : “if we can’t get there now , we will not find the man responsible for this crime . ”
joshua is the main attraction , but it is his parents whose eyes we as the audience see through . vera farmiga ( 2006 ' s
the cairn family welcome a newborn baby into their family , and slowly sanity begins to unravel for everyone . at the heart of the insanity is joshua , a 9 - year old prodigy with an obsession for egyptian death rites . we all know where this story is headed , of course , having been privy to a number of bad seed knockoffs . thankfully , writer / director george ratliff knows this , too . what sets joshua apart is its attention to character and personal drama . to be honest , this film could easily be classified as a drama rather than a horror film , and that’s its greatest strength .
the video tape joshua pulls from the drawer to watch is dated 2 / 29 / 1997 . 1997 was not a leap year . see more »
the leader of the dave matthews band is part of the company , ato pictures , that produced
joshua ,
starring sam rockwell . matthews says he was involved in finding the film project , but was not very involved in the production ( one exception _ urging that rockwell be one of the actors ) .
so stop reading right here & return to this article after seeing the film , then see if you agree with me about the basis for its capacity to disturb .
i had a different take on the film . firstly , i belive that joshua was abused . the drawings , trail of dead pets etc point to this - and there is no doubt there is something wrong with the child . also let ' s not forget the bruising on joshua ' s back to which the dad exclaimed
who did this to you ?
. the end scene in which josh and ned are playing the piano together indicate to me the possibility of ned abusing joshua . . . i believe that someone was , but ned seems the only one to have had the proximity of doing so .
poised self - consciously between art and entertainment , “joshua” offers imaginative staging and some superb performances . celia weston is all clenched teeth and frozen hair as joshua’s aggressively christian grandmother , while dallas roberts brings so much charisma to the minor role of an empathetic uncle , you wish he were around more often .
joshua ,
which opens in limited release friday and expands to wider release later this month , is about a musical child whose family life dramatically alters once his baby sister is born . quickly , the family starts to fall apart , and joshua seems to be at the center of its downfall .
despite several such creepy moments , the film ' s fundamental narrative is more wearying than horrifying . certainly , the monster child plot is familiar , but the easy fit of the
bad mothers
into joshua ' s apparent worldview - - they ' re weak , needy , angry - - is downright disappointing . while brad is by no means a conventional guy hero , he ' s no match for the scheming , ingenious boy . joshua ' s story overwhelms all .
more precise than the monster film genre , the zombie flick ( a perennial cultstud fave ) is cinematic silly putty : cheap , gross fun , with a knack for picking up the day’s newsprint and stretching it across the warp of what looks a lot like dead flesh . for a brief passage of time , it seems like 28 weeks later ( juan carlos fresnadillo , 2007 ) will be the best war movie ever . this despite the fact that it’s barely distinct from predecessor 28 days later ( danny boyle , 2002 ) , origin of the fast zombie trend .
it ' s a small thing , really , but it sets up the tension that will drive george ratliff ' s urban horror movie . the trouble begins for nine - year - old joshua ( jacob kogan ) when his father brad ( sam rockwell ) pulls him away from the soccer game to attend the birth of his sister lily . the first glimpse joshua has of the intruder is from a hospital room door : he looks in on mom abby ( vera farmiga ) and dad cooing over their precious bundle . grim and pale , joshua here adopts the demon - child demeanor he will maintain for the rest of george ratliff ' s film .
i hate to be the rube to say it , but
the bad seed ,
the 1956 camp classic , did this sort of thing better . yes ,
joshua
has it all over
the bad seed
in terms of composition , and it does incite dread in a way that the earlier film never did . but
the bad seed
had one thing that
joshua
lacks and desperately needs : it had a pint - size sociopath who was fun to hate .
vera farmiga who plays joshua ' s mother . would also play a mother to another evil child . ' esther ' in the 2009 horror thriller ' orphan ' .
but something curious happened . after an advance screening or two , the film vanished ; trailers too . life went on . the test numbers for the real war surged downward to darkness .
the movie is okay but it has a lot of loopholes . joshua is a sick child who is both brilliant and insane . his actions were all well calculated and planned . this is a case of extreme sibling rivalry . . joshua has been very insecure with his parents ' love for him which was brought about by lily his baby sister . i think joshua idolizes his uncle too much that he did everything just to ruin his own parents so that he could be with his uncle who was also a disturbed man .
“joshua” is rated r ( under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian ) . it has breast - feeding , child - slapping , granny - pushing and rodent - stuffing .
< i > joshua < / i > is the tale of brad ( sam rockwell ) and abby ( vera farmiga ) cairn , perfect manhattan parents in a perfect manhattan apartment whose perfect life begins to crack after the birth of their second child lily . shortly after lily arrives home , a dark side of prodigy son joshua slowly begins to reveal itself .
for the lowly protagonist , david mann , spielberg hand - picked character actor dennis weaver because he loved his performance as the jittery and feeble hotel night manager in orson welles’s 1958 film touch of evil .
the screenwriters adopt a strategy of having all of joshua ' s crimes take place offscreen . they have their reasons . by keeping the crimes offstage , joshua ' s evil is never grounded in practicalities . he can float through the film as a frightening spirit of menace , as almost an abstraction . moreover , if we were to see him actually poisoning the hamsters in school , the spectacle might look unconvincing or unintentionally funny , and the whole picture could come crashing down . but as it stands , the picture doesn ' t crash - - it just never takes off .
but ultimately all this restraint leaves the impression that
joshua
was a thriller made by a director who just wasn ' t interested in thrilling . ratliff , who made the documentary
hell house ,
is more at home depicting the scenes of family life - - an uncompromising portrait of stress , fatigue and unhappiness . the film ' s dialogue has an expansive , naturalistic quality that makes the viewer feel like an eavesdropper . it ' s in these details that the movie ' s strengths lie , and people who like
joshua
will like it for these reasons .
what a strangle little film . i think this is one of those films that needs to be watched a second time before you can fully appreciate it . maybe . i ' ve yet to find out .
having taken an interest in ancient egypt & the mummification process , we about half expect joshua will be using a long skinny spoon to scoop out his baby sister ' s brains through her nose . but there is no goriness to the film , & though he does eventually get round to mummifying something , in the main this interest merely adds to the suspense of a story that remains strictly psychological .
part of the fun of joshua is the skill with which ratliff juggles horror and realism , feeding one into the other until we become part of the unraveling of the cairns ' perfect life .
the closing themesong , david matthews '
the fly ,
is a sweet tune of horror that explains it all , in case any of us missed the point . it ' s sung first by joshua as one of the creepiest serenades of love ever seen on film , then by matthews behind the end credits . it made me watch all the credits just to hear the song while my stomach continued sinking with a kind of awe for what it reveals . too bad the whole film wasn ' t as awe - inspiring as this close , but it ' s frankly in great part david matthews ' doing .
the whispering routine , however , seems to have been an afterthought & not well developed . it ' s as though the film were mostly in the can when someone said ,
hey , we could call it
i don ' t like soccer ,
joshua says later that night . tucked into bed , he looks up at brad , who does his inept best to reassure him : it ' s okay not to play soccer , it ' s okay not to like baseball . joshua persists .
do you ever feel weird about me , your weird son ?
brad blanches , caught out with no ready answer except the usual platitudes . so now you know : joshua - - brilliant student , musical prodigy - - is feeling unloved , jealous , and afraid . and he ' s weird .
joshua falls a bit flat at the end , but overall it delivers some genuine old - school chills - something that was missing when macaulay culkin played a similar role in
the good son .
joshua
is a masterful study in subtlety that proves horror films don ' t necessarily require gouged eyes and decapitations to earn their place in the higher echelons of the genre . take the recent
the cairn ' s life seems to be a harmonic family : the father brad works as a stockbroker , his wife abby takes care of their common new - born daughter lily , and the 9 - year - old joshua is high - talented . but the appearances are deceptive . joshua becomes gradual jealously , that his parents give the baby more attention than him . therefore he begins to terrorize his family .
the arrival of a newborn girl causes the gradual disintegration of the cairn family ; particularly for 9 - year - old joshua , an eccentric boy whose proper upbringing and refined tastes both take a sinister turn .
i would warn the dear reader of this review to stop now & read no further , as almost anything said of the film will be a spoiler . it would be better to view it before finishing my analysis thereof . if it ' s review enough , i can assure the reader it ' s definitely worth watching ; its small surprises will be more effective if you enter the film completely uncertain who in the story is the nuttiest of a nutty batch .
as the truck rams the car over the cliff and falls off in the final film , there is a low roar sound effect that the filmmaker included to emphasize the death of the truck . spielberg , who wanted the truck to seem
the cairn ' s life seems to be a harmonic family : the father brad works as a stockbroker , his wife abby takes care of their common new - born daughter lily , and the 9 - year - old joshua is high - talented . but the appearances are deceptive . joshua becomes gradual jealously , that his parents give the baby more attention than him . therefore he begins to terrorize his family . written by rsavlsg
here ' s a type of horror film which reflects a cultural fear of children . if children are especially intelligent , they will use their intelligence to cause harm . if they develop a special power , they will use it for harm .
anyone who ' s ever heard ( or just imagined ) troubling sounds coming from a fuzzy baby monitor or fretted while their fifth - grader traversed a big - city crosswalk will have their nerves seriously jangled by joshua .
i ' m not so sure that the writers left this movie without an ending . i think the message is in joshua ' s composition at the end of the son , as well as hidden in the nature of his relationship with his parents throughout the movie . joshua is a constant figure in the film , however , when his parents are present , he becomes scenery . he repeatedly questions his parents love for him , however discusses in his song that he never doubted his uncle ' s love for him . perhaps the point was not for joshua to continue to kill until there was no one left , but rather to set it up such that custody of him and his sister should go to his uncle
as it always should have been
. with his mother , grandmother and father out of the way , the only relative who could take custody of he and his sister was his uncle .
are simply awful at just 16 % positive . furthermore , early reports suggest the audience reaction won’t be much better . it’s too soon to tell if this film is going to underperform already low expectations , but this is not a good sign .
the arrival of a newborn girl causes the gradual disintegration of the cairn family ; particularly for 9 - year - old joshua ( kogan ) , an eccentric boy whose proper upbringing and refined tastes both take a sinister turn .
the arrival of a newborn girl causes the gradual disintegration of the cairn family ; particularly for 9 - year - old joshua ( kogan ) , an eccentric boy whose proper upbringing and refined tastes . . . see more »
joshua is definitely a disturbed child , but it must be questioned why he is the way he is . parental influence must have played some role in this . although i don ' t think joshua has been abused , as is claimed in this movie , i think his mother and father are both unstable to different degrees . being as bright as he is , joshua is probably very aware of this . and like the person who posted the last comment , i believe he does everything he does not purely because he is evil . i think he just wants to live a life with his uncle that would be drastically better for him than the current situation with his parents .
the contrived script expects us to believe that joshua ' s fainting spells , his nocturnal home videos of his sleeping family and his acts of violence on crowded new york city streets fail to raise suspicion until it is too late .
do you know what joshua said to his sister on the video which is watched by brad ? you know , the video recorded by joshua during the night with the infrared video - camera . i did ' nt hear what he said . . . the theory in which joshua has been abused by ned is possible . but i think he feels forsaken by his mother who is always with lily , and by his father who is always working ( and maybe is cheating on abby ) . . . so , he has just wanted to change his parents by ned without killing . . . and i think it because of the video that he started to look for separate from his parents .
when his dad at last comes to the realization of how deeply narcisistic & evil his son is , he sets out to protect the infant & himself in the worst conceivable ways , proclaiming open warfare on joshua . alas for brad , joshua ' s way , way ahead of him . and before it ' s over , daddy won ' t be able to argue very convincingly that he ' s not himself a vicious child abuser whose kid is innocence personified .
the 1996 yugoslavian film pretty village , pretty flame proves that hit films don’t necessarily translate from continent to continent . while it received plenty of favorable reviews from american film critics , pretty village , pretty flame only managed to attract $ 211 worth of business when it received a one - theater / one - week release on january 16 , 1998 . a far cry from the nearly 800 , 000 moviegoers who caught it in serbia ( which was close to 10 percent of the country’s total population at the time ) .
will one of the nation ' s greatest violinists be noticed in a d . c . metro stop during rush hour ? joshua bell experimented for gene weingarten ' s story in the washington post : urltoken ( video by john w . poole )
and $ 171 . 2 worldwide . its biggest opening came from the u . k . , where it earned $ 14 . 50 million in 608 theaters , while mexico wasn’t far behind with $ 12 . 34 million . however , arguably its most impressive opening came in brazil where it earned $ 7 . 5 million , which is the best opening for an animated film in that market . the film has already made enough to pay for its $ 75 million production budget , so it is a monster hit . however , its decline from
so , indeed , my biggest qualms with the film is that the writers did not commit to either explaining joshua nor to him really becoming the monster . he is a monster . it ' s pretty clear that he killed his grandmother , though she honestly could have fallen . we know that he drove his mother crazy or , at least , pushed her over the edge . so , why not have him go all the way ? it might have been the more artistically enthralling way to end the film without explanation , but the device can also be used when the writers don ' t know where to go next . they ' ve built all this up , but cannot figure out how to end it or where to go with it . there is no good triumphs over evil in this film , and we are left without knowing what will happen to joshua , why he ' s this way , nor whether he will eventually take the lives of those remaining in his life . artistically , it is up to us to decide . we don’t get the perfect resolution like in the good son where susan evans must choose to drop one of two children off a cliff , her own son henry who has been wreaking havoc on their lives for months , or her nephew mark . guess which one she chooses ?
joshua : suspense thriller . starring sam rockwell , vera farmiga , dallas roberts and jacob kogan . ( r . 105 minutes . at bay area theaters . for complete listings and show times , and to buy tickets to select theaters , go to urltoken
homeless man : can you help me out , little man ? just something . anything . i ' m no chooser here . joshua cairn : i ' ll give you five dollars if you let me throw a rock at you . see more »
and having a high opinion of himself , joshua doesn ' t find them worthy of him ; so even if they ' d remained sufficiently doting & attentive , there ' s a good chance he ' d ' ve still set out to destroy them .
such is the opening which in the dvd ' s extras we find out has a connection to the rest of the story ( she was the evil child ' s nanny ) , though in the final edit of the film , the opening scene has nothing to do with anything .
in a way normalcy is the subject of “joshua , ” which opens friday . the title character is a 9 - year - old prodigy — an exceptional student , a brilliant musician — whose more ordinary parents , played by mr . rockwell and vera farmiga , don’t know quite what to make of him . trouble is , he knows exactly what to make of them . and when joshua’s place in the family is threatened by a baby sister , his reaction is typical , but his behavior is a bit extreme .
opened with $ 7 . 84 million . it is also a little better than its debut here , given the size of the two markets , and the slumping rubles . on the other hand , the film managed $ 13 . 9 million in the u . k . , compared to
will fall just short of $ 60 million at the box office this weekend , according to sunday estimates from paramount . the studio has the film coming in at $ 59 . 6 million over three days , which is substantially short of the $ 79 . 2 million earned on debut by
eagle - eyed viewers will catch the word “flammable” scrawled across the back of the truck , yet when it careens off the cliff at the end of the movie it doesn’t go boom . the studio wanted a big explosion , but the director wanted a slower demise for his film’s villain .
buffing its tacky premise to an industrial - strength gloss , “joshua” zeroes in on the privileged marriage of brad and abby cairn ( sam rockwell and vera farmiga ) , whose plush new york city apartment boasts a grand piano and a central park view . the piano is for their 9 - year - old son , joshua ( jacob kogan ) , a musical prodigy and a joyless child with televangelist - perfect hair and an unhealthy interest in embalming . favoring preppie outfits and ramrod posture , joshua is as polished and robotic — and as lethal to old ladies and small animals — as his cinematic forebears , like rhoda in “the bad seed” and henry in “the good son , ” though neither , to my recollection , ever broke from ghoulish pursuits long enough to master beethoven’s piano sonata no . 12 .
still took second place with ease , but it was the only other film to earn more than $ 10 million over the independence day long weekend . overall , the box office pulled in $ 132 million over the weekend , which is 27 % less than last weekend . compared to the same weekend
if i shared a bit more of our cultural phobia about children , the preposterous character of joshua would ' ve been one of the best psychopaths seen in a while , a well - made & profoundly cynical tale of suspense that completely justifies a terror of little boys .
with $ 29 . 2 million . this is the best single day for an animated film this year . to emphasize , this isn’t just the best opening day , but the best single day , and it should top that on saturday . the previous record was $ 23 . 00 million , earned by
the snakerama gas station seen in the film also appears in spielberg ' s 1979 world war ii comedy , 1941 , with actress lucille benson again appearing as the proprietor . the two elderly people weaver tries to flag down in a car also appear as helpless motorists in close encounters of the third kind .
intelligent and realistic about its subject matter , the running themes , including sibling jealousy , familial dissidence , and parent - child relations , consistently hit a relevant note . ultimately , it is the knowledge of all the horrific possibilities for what could happen rather than the foresight of what does happen where the film ratchets up and then maintains its entrancing levels of fear and dread . sleekly photographed by benoit debie and brilliantly scored by nico muhlythe use of the off - key piano chords are an invaluable atmospheric addition
joshua
is a haunting and evocative motion picture that stays with you .
after winning a slew of awards and nominations at film festivals and other key industry events around the world—including a world cinema grand jury prize nomination at sundance—you would think that carlos moreno’s colombian crime world drama dog eat dog would have the legs to sustain a single - cinema theatrical release . and you would be wrong .
the woods where the dogs live will become the major setting for the bulk of the film , but gone from the final edit is any connection to the evil child , any reason for the nanny having been in that distant neck of the woods , like much that will unfold , it ' s all just nonsense .
the financial failure of this mexican horror flick certainly isn’t a result of shoddy marketing materials ; its u . s . distributor , magnolia pictures , even earned a golden trailer award nomination for best horror poster . the film currently holds a zero percent rating on rotten tomatoes ( though 22 percent of the audience liked it ) .
the little fellow in
joshua
is hateful , but it ' s not fun hating him . he ' s vile . he ' s obnoxious . he ' s fake in his every utterance , but not amusingly fake - - disturbingly fake , in that one can see how he ' d fool his parents , who are exhausted from overwork and from dealing with a screaming infant . ( guess who ' s making the infant scream ? ) if you ' ve never wanted to punch a child in the face , see
joshua
and discover a whole new side of yourself .
' joshua . ' thriller about a family that falls apart after the birth of a baby . with sam rockwell , vera farmiga . director : george ratliff ( 1 : 40 ) . r : language , disturbing images . at the village 7 , regal e - walk and loews 84th street .
fortunately , he added , he had “just chewed up all the scenery in ‘snow angels . ’ ” in that unreleased movie , which like “joshua” was first seen at sundance in january , he plays “a born - again christian alcoholic who’s chasing after his ex - wife and kind of goes postal . ”
as proof that the site can ruin a film’s box office chances . besides that charge , the other two main complaints i’m hearing over and over again are a . ) rotten tomatoes is a very shallow site , especially the tomatometer . and b . ) it is killing in - depth critical examination of movies . i’ll tackle those claims below .
the note that joshua leaves for his father reads :
dad , / eaten lunch already / and gone to / the brooklyn museum of art / having fun with nunu and lily .
if you arrange the first letter of each line in order , it reveals an acrostic for
death .
see more »
characterized by repeated , precisely composed and internal frames , joshua carefully builds a case against the boy , his actions unseen but affecting abby apparently by the hour . during a family dinnertime , he watches them with lily , then announces that someone died in their apartment .
someone has died on pretty much every inch of this planet ,
he informs his parents , their startled faces nearly frozen as they look back at him . again with the creepiness : after studying mummies , joshua disembowels his stuffed pandy , explaining to a dumbfounded brad that the egyptians broke a dead body ' s nose and
drained the brain through its opening .
for all its surface glamour and mainstream ambitions “joshua” taps into something dark and guilty about being a parent , acknowledging that innocence is not necessarily every child’s default position . “you don’t have to love me , ” joshua tells his stunned father , admitting — in a way the adult cannot — that some children are intrinsically unlovable . because of this attention to naturalism , the movie digs deeper than its predecessors to unearth truths that few parents care to face . ( witness the storm of outrage when the writer ayelet waldman confessed , in a 2005 essay and later on “the oprah winfrey show , ” to loving her husband more than her children . )
, and 2014 could not compete with that , so it lost ground to 2013 . june hopes to turn things around and there are some reasons to be optimistic . all four weeks there is at least one film opening that at least has a shot at $ 100 million . there are even two films that at least have a shot at $ 300 million .
the first scene in joshua is both banal and ominous . young boys are playing soccer , the camera focused on their thin , be - socksed legs as they kick the ball and dash across the grass . the idyll is instantly adjusted when the coach yells out ,
you ' re playing like a bunch of little girls !
but it’s sam rockwell’s spectacular turn as the harried paterfamilias that simultaneously binds the film and pushes its boundaries . whether coddling his character’s doped - up wife or reaching out to his wacky son , mr . rockwell is never less than convincing as a stressed - out dad whose life is slowly disintegrating . the story might get away from him , but his grip on that character never falters .
we are introduced to a well - cast young actor , jacob koban as eight year old joshua . this young actor seems to understand the concept of
less is more
& presents a blank gaze & dandified veneer that permits to viewer to project onto him every expectation already in them about how bad even a well - behaved child might really be .
is by far their biggest property . even including the film’s grosses from wednesday and thursday , its $ 69 million debut is barely in the top ten for the year so far , and poor reviews and a b + cinemascore mean that it won’t have significant legs , even with a bit of help from the upcoming july 4 weekend . so all eyes are going to be on its overseas performance .
easily won the race for the top of the box office chart and became the first film released in 2014 to earn more than $ 100 million during its opening weekend . granted , it barely made it , but we will take it . this helped the overall box office climb by 20 % to $ 190 million over the weekend . unfortunately , this was still 8 % lower than the same weekend
the staging of the doom of vince ( joel edgerton ) involving sneaky evil david , one of his hellhounds , & an ice - covered lake , is one of the better horror sequences in a film with fewer good bits than it needed . the doom of roxane ( sarah wayne callies ) & the doom of the detective ( dule hill ) both fail miserably , for lack of imagination or emotional content .
spielberg got his start directing for tv at the age of 21 , helming episodes of such shows as night gallery and marcus welby , m . d . but the aspiring filmmaker was desperately searching for a property he could turn into a feature film . it was spielberg ' s secretary , nona tyson , who found matheson’s story in playboy and first sent it to her boss to potentially adapt into a movie .
it ' d be a stressful situation even if joshua ' s plan wasn ' t , in essence , to insure that neither his mother nor his father is ever loved by anyone ever , to the end of their lives . yep . that ' s the plan . and honest to shit , it ' s a much spookier plan than just killing ' em outright .
“ghastly” kind of says it all . this 1950s - inspired sci - fi musical—which stars creed bratton ( a . k . a . creed from the office ) —may have nabbed five awards on the american film festival circuit , but it only managed to scare up $ 117 during the week it spent in a single theater in kansas city , kansas in october 2012 . maybe that’s because it had screened at the kansas international film festival less than three weeks earlier ? in the spring of 2013 , johnny tried again , placing the movie in six theaters over the course of four weeks . while it managed to break the $ 1000 mark in revenues when it showed in two theaters in l . a . ( $ 1356 to be exact ) , its total run earned back just $ 2436 of its estimated $ 2 million budget .
with : sam rockwell ( brad cairn ) , vera farmiga ( abby cairn ) , celia weston ( hazel cairn ) , dallas roberts ( ned davidoff ) , michael mckean ( chester jerkins ) , alex draper ( stewart slocum ) , nancy giles ( betsy polsheck ) , linda larkin ( ms . danforth ) , stephanie roth haberle ( pediatrician ) and jacob kogan ( joshua cairn ) .
and i would be surprised if it tops $ 150 million by any serious margin . june looks a lot more profitable . there are five weeks and every week there is at least one film with a great shot at $ 100 million or more . in fact , there are four films with at least a decent shot at $ 200 million and we could double the number of $ 300 million hits released so far this year .
) is an emotional wreck for the bulk of the running time as mother abby . it initially seems as if she is the crazy one in the family , prone to unpleasant mood swings and at her wit ' s end over dealing with her fussy new daughter . as she fights to keep it together for the love of her son , the question becomes : is abby losing her mind , or is it all being meticulously orchestrated by joshua ? the answer is left somewhat ambiguousmy inclination is that her problems stem from bothand that is as it should be . a scene in which abby and joshua play hide - and - seek is dripping with the kind of suspense rarely seen and captured , and it ' s a testament to director george ratliff that he achieves this despite little in the way of action occurring .
but more than anything ,
joshua
is a showcase for the immensely gifted rockwell , who pushes himself through an astonishing range of emotions . and every aspect of his character - the cool dad , the terrified husband , the placating son - is completely convincing . well , almost completely : by the end , we know better than to believe him when he insists that everything is going to be just fine .
in june , universal floated an autumn release date—and a new trailer . it recuts much of the same material with some new stuff , newly dark and ominous , now scored to u2’s “bullet the blue sky . ” “allow us to help your men catch this criminal , ” pleads team leader jamie foxx . “we shouldn’t be here . we shouldn’t be here ! ” professes their host . cut to patrician politico : “the end comes no matter what . the only thing that matters is , how do you wanna go out ? ” a movie about why we had to go in becomes a movie about how we should comport ourselves while there , with hints of exit strategy and a militant - pacifist soundtrack—the film seemingly edited from pro - to antiwar , without ever being released . the circuit of culture grows shorter than ever ; the intermediate phase , where cultural studies labors to suture the film to the history around it , has been rendered obsolete .
it’s no accident that mr . rockwell cited three particularly creepy films to make his point . “joshua” is the latest in a long line of “bad seed” movies that portray children as avatars of evil . mr . ratliff knows that his movie can be construed as a nightmare view of parenthood . “i always blame david gilbert , my co - writer , ” he said in a telephone interview . “it was 100 percent his idea . ”
it ' s gonna get better
is brad ' s mantra , but it doesn ' t . in fact , it gets much , much worse . and joshua , it ' s becoming clear , is at the center of the storm . it ' s always been obvious that he ' s an unusual boy , but brad , much to his own horror , is starting to wonder if he ' s an evil one .
it’s certainly a far cry from the sleek , rambling upper east side apartment of the family in “joshua . ” the boy , played with eerie calm by jacob kogan , goes to an elite private school . mr . rockwell’s character is a hedge - fund manager who plays squash at a fancy club . at home mr . rockwell has no central park views , and he exercises at crunch . his passion is boxing , not squash .
less than one month after he accepted a best actor oscar for his portrayal of idi amin in the last king of scotland , forest whitaker was making news of a different sort when the supernatural thriller he starred in alongside gabrielle anwar was released in one theater for three days and recouped less than . 005 percent of its $ 7 million budget . as the film’s tagline stated :
you can bury the past , but sometimes the past won ' t stay buried . . .
) is an unsung dramatic actor who finds the truth in each moment and holds on it . the way in which his character metamorphosizes is disconcerting and yet absolutely electrifying , going from a happy - go - lucky dad with undying love for joshua to a beaten - down soul on the verge of losing everything and questioning who his son really is . in a nicely nuanced and understated supporting turn , dallas roberts ( 2006 ' s
in this coldly elegant setting , evil manifests without the aid of the usual retro - gothic signifiers like the inverted crucifix or the malevolent nanny . instead the sinister is an elusive presence , as much a part of the mise - en - scène as the baby’s crib , to which joshua is developing an eerie attraction . but for abby , trapped in her gleaming prison with not one but two disagreeable children , the more immediate horror is motherhood itself .
,
for example , seen by myself less than an hour before
joshua .
the former spared no expense on the red stuff , but that apparently didn ' t leave enough money for acquiring a good script . the end result was a movie that was unscary and dramatically cold . by comparison , this modern - day
bad seed
tale expertly weaves a spell of genuine frights and jittery tension even in the most innocuous of scenes .
hence this version of film criticism seems of late like child’s play . the geopolitics decoder ring always works , and with a minimum of twiddles : 1–2–3 baghdad ! ( alternately , the count can go 9–11 - new york ! ) cinematic administrations are always dummies for the current regimes ; villains , once mere criminals , now tend toward self - serving ideologues , worshipping at the altar of blow - stuff - up - ism . when we go out at night , terror is the order of the day .


rogue one : a star wars story , or simply rogue one , is a 2016 american epic space opera film directed by gareth edwards .

the screenplay by chris weitz and tony gilroy is from a story by john knoll and gary whitta .

it was produced by lucasfilm and distributed by walt disney studios motion pictures .

it is the first installment of the star wars anthology series , set immediately before the events of the original star wars film .

the cast includes felicity jones , diego luna , riz ahmed , ben mendelsohn , donnie yen , mads mikkelsen , alan tudyk , jiang wen and forest whitaker .

rogue one follows a group of rebels on a mission to steal the plans for the death star , the galactic empire 's superweapon .

based on an idea first pitched by knoll ten years before it entered development , the film was made to be different in tone and style from the traditional star wars films , including omitting the conventional opening crawl .

principal photography on the film began at elstree studios near london during early august 2015 and wrapped in february 2016 .

the film went through extensive reshoots and additional filming in mid-june 2016 , with gilroy joining for these .

the film premiered in los angeles on december 10 , 2016 , and was released in the united states on december 16 , 2016 .

rogue one received generally positive reviews , with praise for its acting , action sequences , musical score , and darker tone , although some criticism was directed at the characterization and the film 's use of computer-generated imagery to recreate the likenesses of some actors .

the film has grossed over $ 1 billion worldwide , making it the second highest-grossing film of 2016 and 22nd overall unadjusted for inflation .

it received two academy awards nominations for best sound mixing and best visual effects .

rogue one

rogue connections – uncover easter eggs and film facts hidden throughout the movie that connect rogue one to the star wars universe .
hi - res stills from rogue one : a star wars story finally arrive .
guy henry was cast to play tarkin in principal photography for “rogue one . ”
coming up later on urltoken a gallery of exclusive new images from rogue one .
rogue one
spins
star wars
into a whole new orbit .
evidence that we won’t actually see rogue one toys for a long time now .
the first trailer for the new star wars movie rogue one has been released .
doug chiang talks about the beginning visual development of the world of rogue one .
more like tv … a scene from rogue one . photograph : allstar / lucasfilm
a battle rages on in
rogue one : a star wars story .
“rogue one : a star wars story” will be released in theaters december 16 .
rogue one : a star wars story by michael giacchino / arr . paul murtha
‘rogue one : a star wars story’ debuts at no . 1 on disc charts
want to see a bunch more pictures from rogue one ? we ' ve got every single one of them right here .
rogue one is strengthened , not weakened , by its diverse , chosen one - subverting view of the star wars universe .
spoiler alert ! the following includes spoilers from rogue one : a star wars story .
warning : this article contains spoilers about “rogue one : a star wars story . ”
( some slight spoilers for “rogue one : a star wars story” are below . )
thursday on urltoken new photos from rogue one , and details on darth vader’s return .
rogue one : a star wars story arrives in cinemas on december 16 , 2016 .
rogue one : a star wars story is scheduled to be released dec . 16 .
see how ralph mcquarrie and the original trilogy were the foundation of rogue one’s visuals .
ben mendelsohn in rogue one : a star wars story . photograph : allstar / lucasfilm
a death trooper in action in
rogue one : a star wars story .
in a franchise first , rogue one ’s soundtrack isn’t helmed by the legendary composer .
rogue one : a star wars story is released in uk cinemas on december 15 .
for complete information on the 2017 nissan rogue : rogue one star wars limited edition and all other nissan vehicles , please visit urltoken .
2017 nissan rogue : rogue one star wars limited edition only 5 , 000 available , don’t miss out . find out more on urltoken
k - 2so ( alan tudyk ) is one of the robot stars of
rogue one : a star wars story .
jabez olssen is one of the editors of rogue one : a star wars story ; along with john gilroy and colin goudie .
a report on rogue one toys from the nuremberg toy fair… that may not be real .
there ' s a cgi of peter cushing in rogue one . he ' s constantly breakdancing
the film titled rogue one will be directed by gareth edwards ( godzilla , monsters ) .
get your first look at rogue one : a star wars story in theaters this december .
diego luna and felicity jones star in
rogue one : a star wars story .
felicity jones and diego luna star in
rogue one : a star wars story .
it ' s the death star from
rogue one : a star wars story .
riz ahmed and felicity jones star in
rogue one : a star wars story .
most of the star wars films are cover versions of the original movie— rogue one included .
visit the official rogue one : a star wars story home entertainment site for more information .
‘rogue one : a star wars story’ debuts at no . 1 on disc charts – variety
1 .
rogue one
is the first
star wars
spin off movie .
3 . rogue one was inspired by films including the dam busters and the guns of navarone .
star wars catalyst : a rogue one novel is set for release on november 15th , 2016 .
the fan made star wars rogue one logo used in the header was created by michael cohen .
go behind the scenes with the cast and crew of rogue one : a star wars story .
the most surprising element in rogue one wasn ' t the deaths ; it was the resurrections .
rogue one : a star wars story soundtrack is available now : download : urltoken streaming : urltoken sp music video by michael giacchino performing rogue one . ( c ) 2016 lucasfilm ltd . urltoken
the force was clearly strong with the filmmakers of “rogue one : a star wars story . ”
the reviews for rogue one : a star wars story are out - and they ' re mostly good . ' rogue one ' is the first one off star wars movie . it takes place before the events in ' a new hope . '
we now have plenty of new information on the cast of rogue one : a star wars story .
this snow will not stop me . — watching rogue one at amc loews orpheum 7 movie theater urltoken
forest whitaker is in negotiations to join the cast of lucasfilm’s “star wars” anthology pic “rogue one . ”
rogue one is an enjoyable addition to the franchise and jones ' s jyn is a compelling lead .
is rogue one the end of michael giacchino’s punny track titles ? | birth . movies . death .
star wars fans will get another look at leia’s adoptive father , bail organa , in rogue one .
rogue one is about to be released in theatres , but we’re still learning casting from the film .
the blu - ray release date for rogue one : a star wars story appears to have leaked .
the marketing juggernaut behind “rogue one : a star wars story” is impressive , to say the least .
what i’m saying is that rogue one is probably already the best star wars spinoff movie ever made .
the force was clearly strong with the filmmakers of
rogue one : a star wars story .
inferno squad was announced as a rogue one sequel novel back in february , focusing on a team of imperial soldiers aiming to “infiltrate and eliminate the remnants of saw gerrera’s partisans” after the events of rogue one .
through yesterday , rogue one ‘s cume stands at $ 358 . 7m , which is 33 % ahead of avatar through 13 days . in its daily b . o . , rogue one eased 20 % .
felicity jones , who played jane hawking in the theory of everything , will take on the female lead as one of the rebel soldiers in rogue one .
soon we should have details on the hover craft troopers . rogue one is going to be really awesome .
peter cushing in the original star wars . . . or in rogue one . who really knows anymore ?
peter cushing is dead . rogue one’s resurrection is a digital indignity | catherine shoard | opinion | the guardian
despite rumors , we can now officially say this rogue one character is director orson krennic . image : lucasfilm
our most favourite thing about rogue one is that darth vader will be putting in an appearance , which makes perfect sense given the film is set during his reign as the emperor ' s chief enforcer . the rumour was confirmed at the rogue one panel . and then super - confirmed in the second rogue one trailer .
cassian andor ( diego luna ) is on guard in
rogue one : a star wars story .
bodhi rook ( riz ahmed ) speaks to benthic in
rogue one : a star wars story .
rogue one is produced by kathleen kennedy and shot at pinewood studios in the uk , using pinewood digital .
rogue one : a star wars story will be released on dvd and blu - ray on april 4 .
for sure not this year . there won ' t be any piece of advertising attached to rogue one .
rogue one : a star wars story has joined the $ 1 billion club at the worldwide box office .
rogue one is the 28th movie to earn $ 1 billion or more globally , not accounting for inflation .
during its theatrical run , rogue one was the highest - grossing domestic release of 2016 , earning itself a spot as one of the top 10 biggest - earning domestic releases of all time . rogue one also crossed the $ 1 billion mark at the worldwide box office .
' rogue one : a star wars story ' tracking for huge $ 130m - plus u . s . debut
disney released the first trailer for “rogue one : a star wars story” thursday morning on “good morning america . ”
rogue one leads directly to the events of the very first star wars movie , which was released in 1977 .
no jedi . no clear - cut heroes and villains . what does that mean for ' rogue one ' ?
‘fences , ’ ‘la la land’ enter top 10 in rogue one’ , ‘sing’ holiday b . o . | deadline
the footage released at star wars celebration ' s rogue one panel on july 15 certainly backs up that description .
he also admitted to ' nearly having a heart attack ' when george lucas visited the set of rogue one .
director krennic ( ben mendelsohn ) commands the death troopers in
rogue one : a star wars story .
cassian andor ( diego luna ) is a rebellion fighter in
rogue one : a star wars story .
rogue one : a star wars story is available on blu - ray , dvd and digital download 10th april .
gonna copy and paste something else i wrote about character development in rogue one . sorry for the book guys .
rogue one is a live - action eu novel , for better and worse | birth . movies . death .
disney ' s rogue one has continued on from its box office dominance last year to rule home video release .
4 . if none of this makes sense , just look at this
rogue one for dummies
infographic .
when rogue one wasn ' t shooting on gan , the team was filming on the nearby uninhabited berasdhoo island , which is one of the atoll ' s largest .
with the help of some robust and varied social marketing campaigns , rogue one , the first standalone star wars film , rocketed to number one in the box office .
where rey was destined for greater things , however , the rogue one teaser suggests that jyn won ' t be as fortunate , especially if that final shot is to be believed . will rogue one be a study in contrasts ?
one small point , at least one of the paratroopers shouts
for jedha
while exiting he transport .
warwick davis , one of the star wars family ' s most familiar faces and a fanboy favorite , has joined the cast of rogue one : a star wars story .
felicity jones as a tough - minded , quick - thinking hero in “rogue one : a star wars story . ”
' rogue one : a star wars story ' shows there ' s life in star wars yet . . . barely
jimmy smits , who played bail organa in episodes ii and iii , returns for a small role in rogue one .
. the original motion picture soundtrack is available at streaming services and wherever music is sold .
rogue one : a
jyn erso ( felicity jones ) is in a tight spot in
rogue one : a star wars story .
but the diverse casting of
rogue one
could also prove beneficial in ways that go beyond its bottom line .
a scene from
rogue one : a star wars story
showing the nearly complete death star . ( ap )
spoiler alert : 5 star wars : rogue one plot twists , surprises love spoilers ? love star wars ? here are a few of the bigger plot twists in the new ' rogue one ' movie . check out this story on urltoken urltoken
looking over the wealth of information that’s come out about rogue one , one can glean some interesting details about the production and how it could affect future installments of the franchise .
saw gerrera ( forest whitaker ) – one of the few non - original characters found in rogue one , saw first appeared in the animated star wars : the clone wars .
how the ' rogue one ' ending went wrong rebellions are not built on cgi . check out this story on urltoken urltoken
“rogue one : a star wars story , ” the first of several planned spinoffs , hits theaters on dec . 16 .
the rogue one producers received tax credit support of £20m to film in the uk and spent around five times that figure .
rogue one : a star wars story rated pg - 13 for endless war . running time : 2 hours 13 minutes .
rogue one tells the story of a group of rebel fighters on a mission to steal the plans for the death star .
so , if you haven ' t seen rogue one yet , i ' m telling you to stop reading right now .
rogue one : a star wars story is available for digital download and hits blu - ray and dvd on april 4 .
new year’s weekend rings in $ 240m ; ‘rogue one’ raises to $ 439m at domestic b . o . – monday am
leia appears briefly at the end of rogue one : a star wars story as a digital recreation of the young princess .
who actually plays darth vader is a tricky question to answer , and one that becomes even more complicated when you factor in his appearance in ‘rogue one – a star wars story’ .
martial arts movie star donnie yen said fans will decide if there is a sequel to rogue one : a star wars story as he was honoured with one of hollywood’s highest accolades .
ilmxlab , the vr and augmented reality think - tank from industrial light & magic has been involved in the development of rogue one . director gareth edwards has been using an xlab oculus rift set - up to help design star wars : rogue one .
' rogue one : a star wars story ' tracking for huge $ 130m - plus u . s . debut | hollywood reporter
sense of purpose … felicity jones as jyn erso in rogue one : a star wars story . photograph : jonathan olley / ap
new star wars movie rogue one based itself at pinewood studios near london and kept its main unit filming largely within the uk .
live action and digital effects were used in “rogue one : a star wars story” to bring back the character grand moff tarkin .
( note : this article contains minor spoilers about a character in “rogue one , ” but reveals nothing of the plot . )
the pantages theatre prepped and ready for the la premiere of rogue one : a star wars story . source : dolby / disney
spoiler warning : this article contains major spoilers for “rogue one : a star wars story , ” which is in theaters now .
combat walkers are part of the landscape in “rogue one , ” the first stand - alone film in the “star wars” franchise .
new “ rogue one : a star wars story” footage and an official poster were released at star wars celebration europe on friday .
“rogue one : a star wars story , ” the first in a series of standalone films , hits theaters on december 16 .
' rogue one : a star wars story ' shows there ' s life in star wars yet . . . barely - popmatters
pablo hidalgo explores the aliens of rogue one with neal scanlan ( creature fx supervisor ) and tim rose ( admiral ackbar ) .
the final trailer for ' rogue one : a star wars story , ' starring felicity jones , diego luna and ben mendelsohn .
and yet here we are again , offering up five of the biggest ones from “rogue one : a star wars story . ”
i ' m worried that disney will listen to the people saying rogue one is bad and give is more duds like tfa .
netflix subscribers will be able to watch rogue one : a star wars story starting july 18 , the streaming service announced today .
without giving away any spoilers , here are some general descriptions about what to expect when rogue one opens on dec . 16 :
more important , jones reportedly made great money to play jyn erso in rogue one —far more than any of her male co - stars in fact . that , along with the diversity of the cast , really makes rogue one the best blockbuster of the year .
one of the major ways that rogue one took advantage of social media was with the use of social media influencers to help spread the branding message and raise awareness and excitement for the film .
los angeles – nissan today unveiled the last of four new vehicles debuting at the los angeles auto show , the 2017 nissan rogue : rogue one star wars limited edition . the dramatic reveal featured a special interactive presentation of the intelligent safety shield technologies available in the redesigned 2017 rogue against a high - action video . the video was followed by a drive - out of a pair of the nissan rogue : rogue one star wars limited edition vehicles accompanied by battle - ready stormtroopers .
rogue one provides a back - story to the first scenes of 1977 ' s star wars : episode iv - a new hope .
k - 260 stands tall over jyn erso ( played by felicity jones ) in the recently - released ' rogue one ' trailer .
so there you go – director gareth edwards was definitely not kidding when he talked about rogue one being very much a war movie .
rogue one takes place just before 1977 ' s a new hope , when the death star was being built and given vader ' s role in this , his cameo is not a surprise ; his return has been rumoured since reports of rogue one were first revealed .
love spoilers ? love star wars ? here are a few of the bigger plot twists in the new ' rogue one ' movie .
staring felicity jones , diego luna , forest whitaker and mads mikkelson rogue one , was released in the uk on 16th december 2016 .
rogue one = excellent . people around me saying even better than the force awakens . congrats disney / lucasfilm / amazing talent involved .
ben mendelsohn as director krennic in a scene from
rogue one : a star wars story .
( jonathan olley / ap )
cushing number … the actor will reportedly hold vader’s leash once again in rogue one . photograph : cine text / sportsphoto ltd / allstar
nissan is one of five global brands joining forces with lucasfilm ltd . for launch of an extensive global promotional campaign in support of
rogue one : a star wars story ,
opening december 16
whether or not the reshoots on the movie were as extensive as some rumors claimed remains unknown , but one thing is clear : the new look at rogue one : a star wars story looks like a trailer to a different movie than the one advertised earlier .
rogue one might be the first standalone film in the star wars universe , but that doesn’t mean it’s detached from the original saga . in fact , director gareth edwards went to great lengths to ensure continuity between rogue one and a new hope , including adding previously unseen star wars footage to push one scene even further into the canon .
major rogue one spoilers are coming below , stop reading now if you haven’t seen the movie yet and want to stay in the dark .
with the man in black as a background figure , that brings us to the central villain of rogue one : a man in white .
our sources are telling us that in fact british actor spencer wilding has been cast to play the body of darth vader in rogue one .
rogue one : a star wars story is released on 15 december in australia and the uk , and on 16 december in the us .
dave filoni ( executive producer on star wars rebels ) visits the rogue one set , looking for characters and visuals to connect in rebels .
galen erso ( mads mikkelsen ) is part of the
star wars
universe in
rogue one : a star wars story .
but shocking as it may be , it also makes “rogue one” a better movie — the sacrifice made to get the plans is ultimate .
' rogue one : a star wars story . ' image courtesy of industrial light & magic . © 2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved
rogue one also benefitted from a unique partnership with twitter that resulted in a number of promotional items that made use of the twitter format .
we’re only a little over a month from the release of rogue one : a star wars story , the first non “episode” theatrical release .
rogue one . . . . i have it . . . . my father has it . . . . my sister has it .
the 3d for rogue one was pretty good , not great . however it was very good compared to the horrible 3d for episode vii .
kathleen kennedy , president of lucasfilm , said donnie was the first choice to play chirrut and the character is “the heart” of rogue one .
it’s back to black : darth vader , quite possibly the most iconic villain in film history , returns in rogue one , as , of course , does james earl jones , who has voiced darth in four previous films . ‘rogue one : a star wars story’ opens on december 16
rogue one was set up to be an uncategorizable movie . part prequel , part spinoff , rogue one had to create a story and a cast of characters that were both engaging enough to sustain a movie but not so important or independent that they confused the existing star wars films .
many of our influencers are big fans of the star wars franchise , ? said steve smith , ceo of sharkreach , one of the marketing companies that worked on the rogue one campaign . ? sharkreach facilitated their screening of rogue one and further engaged those who were most enthusiastic to share exclusive clips to help drive excitement across all their social platforms .
‘rogue one’ world premiere : disney reaps raves for expanding ‘star wars’ universe as an x - wing & tie fighter land in l . a .
‘rogue one – a star wars story’ is in uk cinemas from 15 december . watch a report from the film’s uk premiere last night below .
hopefully some of these lucky fans in mexico will go online and let everyone know what they saw in the first twenty minutes of rogue one .
“rogue one” is directed by gareth edwards ( “godzilla” ) and stars felicity jones as a rebel fighter tasked with stealing plans for the death star .
the trailer for rogue one : a star wars story is out and we now know plenty more about what ' ll happen in the movie .
the rogue one : a star wars story premiere at the pantages theatre was presented in dolby vision and dolby atmos . source : dolby / disney
just a 20 - minute drive from vik in southern iceland , this black sand beach is the setting for rogue one ' s planet eadu .
the latest trailer for this december ' s rogue one : a star wars story has landed – and it ' s spine - tingling good .
headed by oscar - nominated felicity jones , playing rebel jyn erso , rogue one has a stellar line - up in front of the camera .
in
rogue one : a star wars story ,
k - 2so ( alan tudyk ) and jyn erso ( felicity jones ) converse .
rogue one : a star wars story . . ph : film frame ilm / lucasfilm . . © 2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
rogue one : a star wars story . . stormtroopers . . ph : jonathan olley . . © 2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
as if that wasn ' t enough to celebrate , rogue one will blast off just before star wars celebrations take place in mid - april .
“ rogue one : a star wars story ” remains unstoppable at the world’s multiplexes , hitting $ 838 . 3 million worldwide after three weeks .
1sr rogue one review . it was actually amazing ! ! ! super fun & exciting . ties in w / episode 4 perfectly . # starwars
before then , fans will be able to pour through the impressive list of bonus extras includede on the rogue one release . no doubt they will head straight for the category of ' rogue connections . ' appropriately enough for the release date , this section explores the tasty easter eggs hidden in the film and shows how rogue one connects to the wider star wars universe .
• finally , darth vader… the dark lord of the sith delivers one moment of pure horror . you could argue there’s even more than one scene that fits this description . rogue one shows a ruthless , predatory side of vader when he is at the height of his powers .
the release of rogue one : a star wars story has been one of the most anticipated of the year – and it’s done exceptionally well , with predictions for its opening global weeks expected to be around £124million .
rogue one : a star wars story had one of the greatest premieres i ' ve ever attended , setting the stage for its phenomenal success in wide release and making it hard to imagine how anyone ' s going to match it . but one thing is for sure - - the pantages has reestablished itself as a top venue for cinematic events and screenings . rogue one has paved the way , and others will surely follow .
watch the official second trailer for rogue one : a star wars story , in which jyn erso leads a group of unlikely heroes to steal the plans to the death star , the empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction . rogue one : a star wars story arrives in theaters december 16 , 2016 .
the rogue one star wars limited edition package will be available for a manufacturer ' s suggested retail price 1 ( msrp ) of $ 1 , 990 , and is only available on 2017 rogue sv equipped with the sun and sound touring package . all 5 , 400 rogue one star wars limited edition vehicles are assembled by nissan in smyrna , tn . for more information on the 2017 rogue and the complete lineup of nissan vehicles , please visit urltoken .
constrained by a flat and inexpressive script , “rogue one : a star wars story” lets neither its characters nor even its special effects come to life .
we ' ve seen the first electric trailer for
rogue one : a star wars story ,
now we ' ve seen something even greater .
rogue one , which follows a group of rebel fighters as they try to steal the plans to the death star , premieres on dec . 16 .
watch the official trailer for rogue one : a star wars story , in which a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the death star , the empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction . rogue one : a star wars story arrives in theaters december 16 , 2016 .
the story of star wars doesn ' t end with the main cast . pablo hidalgo explores the personal stories of the supporting cast of rogue one .
gareth edwards took a stab at explaining rogue one ' s title . we ' ll leave it up to you to decide how successful he was .
rogue one tweetstorm ( no spoilers ) : i usually watch movies w a critical eye . solid act 2 , but they fumbled act 3 etc .
rogue one : a star wars story . a death trooper . . ph : jonathan olley . . © 2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
rogue one : a star wars story . darth vader . . photo credit : lucasfilm / ilm . . ©2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
footage of recording sessions for the rogue one : a star wars story soundtrack has been released , giving us the first listen to michael giacchino’s music .
in honor of star wars day , ew caught up with both revis and rucka to discuss what it was like writing about their rogue one characters .
' rogue one ' : the force will be with those who love battle scenes rogue one is a movie that ' s part of the star wars firmament . but it ' s not a star wars movie — it ' s a star wars story . npr movie critic bob mondello explains why .
in striving for a balance between a digital figure who seemed real and one who looked precisely like cushing , the “rogue one” creators said seemingly minor tweaks could make significant differences — and these details were tinkered with constantly .
early in “rogue one : a star wars story , ” when our hero jyn erso ( felicity jones ) meets the blind warrior chirrut imwe ( donnie yen ) for the first time , we are treated to a pretty interesting reference that actually ties “rogue one” to “star wars : the force awakens . ”
though the film is devoid of jedis , the sith lord darth vader appeared in television spots and trailers for “rogue one” but was not depicted with his crimson red lightsaber . fans got a glimpse of ground battles that leaned heavily into making “rogue one” feel more like a war movie than a space epic .
rogue one ' s home release spanned multiple options throughout several retail outlets . confused about which to pick up ? check out our rogue one blu - ray buying guide . the release also included some behind - the - scenes features that taught us more about the latest film in the star was franchise .
los angeles – the name association is obvious – nissan rogue meet
rogue one : a star wars story ,
the first - ever standalone star wars story . it ' s only fitting then that nissan and lucasfilm , the studio behind the latest addition to the star wars movie empire , join forces for the first - ever full - size production vehicle to include star wars - branded elements , the
nissan rogue : rogue one star wars limited edition .
no actor has yet been confirmed to play vader in rogue one , though the evil sith lord is also rumoured to be returning . the first official photograph from the set of the film , which has been retitled rogue one : a star wars story , was released online last week . the cast includes felicity jones , diego luna , forest whitaker , ben mendelsohn , riz ahmed , mads mikkelsen and alan tudyk . rogue one hits cinemas in december 2016 .
at least four years’ time in - universe pass in - between o’reilly’s appearance as mon mothma in “rogue one” and blakiston’s in “return of the jedi . ” if you’re watching the films in chronological order , then there are two whole movies in - between them . but if you’re watching “rogue one” immediately before “a new hope , ” you’re seeing back - to - back tarkin appearances . that doesn’t mean “rogue one” couldn’t have recast the role ; they just opted to take the more groundbreaking route of trying to make “rogue one” as consistent with “a new hope” as possible — and that means all - digital tarkin .
one reason we saved his reveal until now , in addition to him having a deeper backstory than the other new characters , is that saw is an ally to the rebel squad in rogue one , but he’s not really one of them . “he’s off on his own , ” kennedy says .
sam claflin is being eyed for one of the starring roles in “star wars : rogue one , ” while riz ahmed is in talks to join the cast as well , an individual with knowledge of the project told thewrap .
“rogue one : a star wars story” will not change lives for the worse or for the better , and it will — or ought to — offend no one . welcome to the republic of the just o . k .
for much more from edwards and unparalleled access to his crew , pick up the rogue one issue of empire from thursday august 25 , available in all good and death star newsagents . subscribers will already be receiving theirs – one of many reasons why it ' s worth subscribing to empire . rogue one : a star wars story , meanwhile , blasts into cinemas from december 16 .
rogue one : a star wars story
is coming to theaters in australia on december 15 , then hits the us and uk on december 16 .
rogue one will be the first star wars movie without any jedi , and there are reports that it may be the first without that famous opening crawl .
first of all , i will say i loved rogue one . is it perfect ? no . is anh perfect ? is any star wars movie perfect ?
rogue one , from director gareth edwards , has become the seventh highest - grossing film of all time in the us , garnering two academy award nominations .
rogue one : a star wars story . star destroyer . . ph : film frame ilm / lucasfilm . © 2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
disney has officially announced the release date of rogue one on digital hd , disney anywhere , dvd and blu - ray plus all the bonus extra features .
rogue one : a star wars story opened in cinemas in december and grossed over $ 1 . 05 billion ( £850 million ) worldwide . although lucasfilm president kathleen kennedy has said there won’t be a sequel , it has been reported that rogue one star felicity jones is contracted to make another star wars film .
twitter also live streamed multiple events leading up to the release of rogue one including interviews with the cast and crew of the film ( see story ) .
his latest novel is a set up for the newest and first star wars spinoff film , rogue one : a star wars story . the synopsis follows :
on sunday , paramount revealed that the next installment in its iconic covert spy franchise is officially titled mission : impossible — rogue nation , a moniker that shares a key word with lucasfilm and disney ' s star wars spinoff , rogue one .
disney’s plan was to distinguish “rogue one” as its own separate story that wasn’t a sequel . strauss says they made it happen “by calling [ rogue one ] a star wars ‘story’ as opposed to an ‘episode . ’ the movie builds on the star wars legacy and mythology but has a different feel and complexion . ”
when we broke the news of what rogue one would be about , one detail we reported didn’t make much sense : we were told that the millennium falcon , but probably not han solo , would play a role in the story . filming has completed on rogue one , and the trades are now reporting on who might be playing han solo in the phil lord / chris miller film .
essentially rogue one already is doing 50 % of force awakens thursday night business , a figure that should rise to 62 % by the end of the night .
- remember those star wars drinking glasses that burger king use to give away ? well alamo drafthouse has a supply of rogue one tumblers for those buying tumblers .
hart believes vader’s volatility in the original film is part of what made him memorable and unsettling , so that quality will also be coming back in rogue one .
and production on spin - off movie star wars anthology : rogue one looks to be going swimmingly as filming continued in a desert style landscape in north london .
entertainment weekly magazine has an exclusive first look at
rogue one : a star wars story .
the issue goes on sale nationwide friday , june 24 .
when audiences flock to multiplexes this weekend to see gareth edwards’ “ rogue one : a star wars story , ” they’re in for a blast from the past .
to learn more about the first star wars spin - off film rogue one , including what was contained in the first publicly revealed concept art , click here .
epilogue : the story continues – filmmakers and cast celebrate rogue one’s premiere and look forward into the future , to the star wars stories yet to be told .
for more of the interview , including macinnes’ thoughts on rogue one’s digital resurrection of long - dead actor peter cushing , you can watch the full interview below .
the difference between saving private ryan and rogue one is that the soldiers that stormed normandy have a great sense of camaraderie having gone through basic together , hating their drill sergeant together and supporting each other through everything . in rogue one they barely met and went on a death mission all together in like a couple days .
rogue one : a star wars story . . ( ben mendelsohn ) . . ph : film frame . . © 2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
directed by gareth edwards , rogue one : a star wars story tells the story of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans to the dreaded death star .
set in the aftermath of rogue one and a new hope , battlefront : inferno squad will explore the backstory of the unit and its commander , iden versio . according to the original announcement , the unit will be tasked with infiltrating the remains of saw gerrera’s partisans cell that we saw escape from jedha in rogue one .
rogue one caps the studio ' s domination last year at the box office , where it claimed an unprecedented 26 percent of market share in north america alone .
all along , disney tried to dissuade wall street and the press from comparing rogue one to star wars : the force awakens , which grossed a staggering $ 2 . 068 billion at the global box office following its release in december 2015 . the studio said it didn ' t expect rogue one to match force awakens .
crazy happy to say that rogue one is tremendous . great mix of classic and brand new , and it ' s fun and thrilling throughout . be excited !
rogue one had me from the opening to the very end . incredible action mixed with a script fans are going to love . going to make people happy .
another new planet featured for the first time in rogue one is scarif , a tropical world which was shot in the maldives . “sometimes you’ve got to take one for the team , ” joked edwards . “we tried to use real - world locations and it just so happened that rogue one was partly set in this paradise world , so we had to go to paradise to film it . ”
younger audiences will be bored , confused , or both . but for the original generation of “star wars” fans who weren’t sure what to make of episodes one , two , and three , “rogue one” is the prequel they’ve always wanted .
the 2017 nissan rogue is showcased in a series of star wars - themed marketing efforts by nissan that demonstrate the vehicle ' s intelligent safety shield technologies and the nissan rogue ' s ability to
take on any battle .
the first special effects - heavy commercials debuted in late october . but while the marketing shows the new rogue in a simulated star wars battlefield , the nissan rogue : rogue one star wars limited edition stands on its own as a truly unique , collectible , real - world vehicle .
most of the moments that crackle are direct touchpoints with something we recognize . the sequences that are rogue one qua rogue one are occasionally intriguing , but , predominantly , merely adequate . and unlike in last year’s star wars : the force awakens , there is a clear and recognizable section for dashing out if that extra large diet pepsi has gone rogue in your bladder . this is a movie made for fans .
after a long wait , “rogue one : a star wars story” is finally in theaters . years of spoilers , rumors , trailers , reports and casting news have given way to the movie itself . if you’ve seen “rogue one , ” then you now know what happens in the film and , maybe more importantly , who is in the film . much like the previous prequel films , “rogue one” is packed with cameo characters and supporting players that we’ve seen on the big screen before .
rogue one : a star wars story hits theaters later this week and avoiding spoilers until after the thursday night debut may be as hard as stealing the death star plans from the galactic empire . but like a band of rebellion soldiers , we have your back . what follows are my spoiler - free thoughts on rogue one .
- regal cineamas sold 1 , 000 “ultimate tickets” at $ 100 a pop , which allows a moviegoer to see rogue one an unlimited number of times . guests tonight also will have the opportunity to buy one of five collectible popcorn tins .
some vintage “rogue one” characters were easier to conjure than others . general dodonna , a rebel officer from the original “star wars” was simply recast ; he was played by alex mccrindle in the first film and ian mcelhinney in the new one .
rogue one ‘s play at 401 imax auditoriums last night grossed $ 3 . 7m , and it marked the widest domestic release ever for the large - format exhibitor .
red leader at least has a better exit than gold leader’s panic - stricken death star trench death , but neither really helps get anything done in “rogue one . ”
rogue one began filming on july 1st , 2015 and concluded their filming the same day that star wars : the force awakens hit theaters in mid - december 2015 .
for some time there have been rumblings that darth vader would be in rogue one : a star wars story . we have received our fair share of tidbits about it over the last year . gary at flickeringmyth is reporting they have the name of the actor who is playing darth vader in rogue one : a star wars story :
our source also confirms that wilding has been running lines while on set , so darth vader will have a speaking role in rogue one : a star wars story .
we now know the names of the action figures we’re going to be buying for the next year , the main characters of rogue one : a star wars story .
cassian andor ( diego luna ) , jyn erso ( felicity jones ) and k - 2so ( alan tudyk ) in rogue one . photograph : jonathan olley / lucasfilm
star wars : rogue one will be available to buy through digital platforms on march 24 and on blu - ray / dvd on april 4 , disney announced today .
for thoughts on , and a place to discuss , plot details we can’t reveal in this review , visit rogue one : a star wars story ’s spoiler space .
although rogue one only hit cinemas a week ago , fans of the star wars series are already busy analysing every frame of the film searching for hidden easter eggs .
epilogue : the story continues – filmmakers and cast celebrate rogue one ’s premiere and look forward into the future , to the star wars stories yet to be told .
with spoilers , we compare rogue one ' s final cut to the promos , and try to work out what changed in those much - publicised reshoots . . .
rogue one : a star wars story . saw gerrera ( forest whitaker ) . . ph : giles keyte . . © 2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
rogue one : a star wars story . baze malbus ( jiang wen ) . . ph : jonathan olley . . © 2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
rogue one : a star wars story . . x - wings in battle . photo credit : lucasfilm / ilm . . ©2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
rogue one : a star wars story . jyn erso ( felicity jones ) . . ph : jonathan olley . . © 2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
rogue one : a star wars story . . star destoyer . . ph : film frame ilm / lucasfilm . . © 2016 lucasfilm ltd . all rights reserved .
jyn : the rebel – get to know rogue one’s defiant , resourceful survivor , and hear what it was like for felicity jones to bring her to life onscreen .
elsewhere on the interwebs , steve weintraub from collider complimented both rogue one ' s action and script , making it clear that all kinds of moviegoers will enjoy it .
holy crap did i love rogue one . it’s gonna take days to wipe the smile off my face . so many surprises and so much fun . get excited .
custom features of the nissan rogue : rogue one star wars limited edition – the first production vehicle ever to include star wars - branded elements – include a unique badge , exclusive interior and exterior trim items and a full - size death trooper collectible helmet .
fascinated may be an understatement in this situation . reports of reshoots on the film this summer have many fans alarmed that rogue one may not follow the familiar formula of the star wars trilogies - - the crawl just one of many beloved mainstays .
lucasfilm and disney have a very long deal with pinewood to film most of the upcoming star wars films in london , and rogue one was one of the movies that shot at pinewood studios , iver heath , in buckinghamshire , england , uk .
while some of the cgi effects were a bit odd - looking ( i’m looking at you , tarkin ) , one of the most impressive feats was how rogue one digitally resurrected garven dreis and jon vander , the red and gold leaders from a new hope . the characters were added into rogue one ’s battle of scarif pretty seamlessly , leading many to wonder just how the hell edwards was able to do it .
all in this weekend , rogue one’s $ 290m global debut pushed walt disney studios past the $ 7 billion mark , setting a new industry high for a major studio .
fandango and movietickets . com , the country’s two leading digital ticketing services , both report that “rogue one” was the biggest first day of pre - sales for the year .
this shot , shown at star wars celebration , announced darth vader ' s appearance in
rogue one
- - but it also isn ' t in the film .
the defiant jyn erso and the fearsome director orson krennic make their highly anticipated debut on the battlefront as the two new playable heroes in the rogue one : scarif dlc .
and yet , the rogue one being advertised in the new trailer seems like a different movie , and the jyn erso appearing in the latest trailer like a different character .
now that rogue one : a star wars story has been out in theaters for a month , the veil of secrecy has been lifted and we’ve learned quite a lot about about how the film came together . this is pretty typical for most movies , save for the fact that rogue one went through some extensive reshoots to tighten it up .