Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in December 16, 2016, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII on December 15, 2017, the Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film on May 25, 2018, Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019, and the third Star Wars Anthology film in 2020.
While Rogue One: A Star Wars Story isn’t cut from the quite same cloth as the Skywalker legacy films, it still operates in that same wondrous world.
At the same time, a Star Wars film that ignores its alien cohorts and their struggles simply wouldn’t feel right.
At the same time, without several major Star Wars tropes, such as the familiar opening crawl, Rogue One will succeed or fail on the merits of its original characters (with a few exceptions) and as a unique entity – while remaining a thread within the overall Star Wars tapestry.