'Rogue One' news: no sequels for the upcoming 'Star Wars' standalone

Fans know where the events of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" eventually lead. The movie is more of a journey than an ending-centric film and it is almost a no-brainer to think that the first standalone film out of Lucasfilm's gates will be very self-contained. Still, that did not stop fans from theorizing any potential stories that could still be fleshed out following the release of the film.

In light of this, company president Kathleen Kennedy went ahead and confirmed that "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" will only be a one-time big-time affair in putting the spotlight on these new band of rebels led by Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). The comment was made in a recent interview with Empire Online as tipped by /Film where the producer basically quashed down hopes for the mockingly titled "Rogue Two" movie.

Now, this development might sound like a bummer, especially since a lot of these new characters appear so interesting, and knowing that this will be the first and last time they will go on a mission is a bit of a downer. Then again, there are not many poke holes in this situation, especially when looking at the "Star Wars" lore as a whole. "Rogue One" is tipped to end merely moments before the start of "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope"; in fact, the crawl for that film is a direct shout-out to the game players of the Gareth Edwards project. Furthermore, in the four saga films following it, timeline-wise, there were no glaring references to these characters, which make it quite difficult to explain shall they continue living. Even Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) was not referenced during the table meeting regarding the Death Star despite his supposedly big contributions to the eventual fruition of the massive weapon. That is of course sans the possibility that some pulled a Dagobah or Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness/Ewan McGregor) in Tatooine and went underground.

This, however, does not exactly confirm that all the notable characters from "Rogue One" will be biting the dust by the time credits roll up. Surely, there is a huge chance that some of them will make the ultimate sacrifice during their attempts to secure the plans to the Death Star but it might be a little bit too gritty to have them all dead by the end of the film. As to how those tipped to have survived will be tied-up to the lore moving forward, an acceptable reference or two thrown could fill up the story gaps but just not enough to merit a whole new narrative.

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" hits theaters on Dec. 16 and tickets are already being presold although nabbing one could prove to be a struggle given the amount of demand that it now poses on ticketing sites.