Gareth Edwards offers new details about Jedha, a sacred land for those who follow the Force and a place that addresses the theme of 'losing faith.'
- Aug 9, 2016
AceShowbiz - Gareth Edwards has shared new details about Jedha that will be featured in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story". Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the director reveals that Jedha is a holy land for those who follow the Force and a place that addresses the theme of "losing faith."
"The Force is basically in 'Star Wars' like a religion, and they're losing their faith in the period that we start the movie," he explains. "We were trying to find a physical location we could go to that would speak to the themes of losing your faith and the choice between letting the Empire win, or evil win, and good prevailing. It got embodied in this place we called Jedha."
"It's a place where people who believe in the Force would go on a pilgrimage," Edwards continues. "It was essentially taken over by the Empire. It's an occupied territory... for reasons we probably can't reveal." Though the director refuses to explain what the Empire wants from the sacred land, he later claims that "there's something very important in Jedha that serves both the Jedi and the Empire. It felt very much like something we could relate to in the real world."
With faith in the Force receding during the event of "Rogue One", Edwards notes that Jedha has a particular individual in the resistance group whom the main characters will seek. He explains, "Within Jedha, even though there's the oppressive foot of the Empire hanging over them, there's a resistance that won't give up and our characters have to go and meet people there to try and secure a person from this group."
Jedha is filled with priests, scholars, and holy men and women. Among the inhabitants is a blind warrior monk named Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen), who is accompanied by Baze Malbuz (Jiang Wen). It's also the homeworld of Riz Ahmed's Bodhi Rook, a pilot who was formerly conscripted into Imperial service but later joins the Rebel to fight against Emperor Palpatine's regime.
Also starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Mads Mikkelsen, Forest Whitaker, Alan Tudyk and Genevieve O'Reilly, the upcoming stand-alone movie hits U.S. theaters on December 17. However, fans can expect a glimpse of the sacred land when a new trailer for "Rogue One" premieres during Rio Olympics on NBC on Thursday, August 11.
