While Disney and LucasFilm’sRogue One: A Star Wars Storycouldn’t breakStar Wars: The Force Awakens' opening weekend box office record, it did make history in a few other ways. For one, this is the first live-actionStar Wars moviesince 1984’sThe Ewok Adventureand 1985’sEwok: The Battle for Endorthat doesn’t feature a score byJohn Williams, withMichael Giacchinotaking over the composing duties on Rogue One. And it is also the firstStar Warsmovie since thoseEwokspin-offs that doesn’t begin with the iconic opening crawl, which immediately transports viewers to “a galaxy far, far away.” In fairness, the theatricalStar Wars: Clone Warsmovie also ditched some of these elements. But it’s important here, because it sets a precedence for the new Star Wars standalone movies moving forward. Instead of an opening crawl, directorGareth Edwardsopted for an opening prologue, set 15 years before the story takes place. While most didn’t seem to mind the absence of the opening crawl too much, the man who created it,Dan Perri, thinks it was “foolish” and a “mistake” to omit it.
Dan Perrispent months creating theopening crawlfor the very firstStar Warsmovie,A New Hope, delivering it just a month before the release in May 1977. That crawl would go on to be used in all of the subsequent movies, with the crawl becoming just as iconic as the characters featured in these blockbuster movies. LucasFilm presidentKathleen Kennedyhinted several months ago that there would not be a crawl, which was eventually confirmed just before the release ofRogue One, withKathleen Kennedyrevealing they want to save that element for the saga films.The Hollywood Reportercaught up toDan Perri, who thinks it was a huge mistake to openRogue Onewithout the crawl.
“Frankly, it is a huge mistake, because the image is so iconic and it’s so important to tens of millions, hundreds of millions of fans. I couldn’t imagine it starting without that. It’s foolish.”
Before his work onStar Wars,Dan Perridesigned the titles forMarathon Man,Taxi DriverandAll the Presidents Men. His other credits includeClose Encounters of the Third Kind,The Warriors,Caddyshack,Raging Bull,A Nightmare on Elm Street,Platoonand many more.Dan Perrialso revealed he would have to drive out toGeorge Lucas' office in Van Nuys, California, where all of his ideas would be rejected. Here’s whatDan Perrihad to say about his initial meetings withGeorge Lucas.
“I had no idea what he was doing, so it was just this stupid space film. I didn’t think anything of it. Everything I showed him, he didn’t like. So I was constantly going out there with new ideas, and he would tell me to look at certain films. TheBuck Rogersfilms and all the serials from the ’30s that he was using for inspiration.”
One of the films he watched while looking for inspiration wasCecil B. DeMille’s 1939 filmUnion Pacific, starringBarbara Stanwyck, which featured the opening credits scrolling past a railroad track. Using that title design as an inspiration, he set out to create the crawlStar Wars fanscame to know and love, but it didn’t come that easy. Here’s whatDan Perrihad to say about what went into creating that crawl.
“He liked the idea, but then I had to start shooting and testing and setting type. I went through 20 or 30 or 40 different type styles before I settled on one. Once we did that, I shot tests for weeks and weeks and weeks. It was all on film. You shoot a test on black-and-white film and then it had to be developed the next day or late that day. I’d rush out to Van Nuys with it and wait for him for hours to show it to him and he never liked it, and it just went on and on and on. He accepted it and they cut it in. By then, it was only maybe a month before the release. The day I delivered it, it was such a relief to drive away from there knowing, ‘Wow, it’s done finally.'”
He added thatGeorge Lucasonly took a few minutes to look at his design, since “he had so many things on his mind, he was so busy.“Dan Perristill hasn’t seenRogue One, or any otherStar Warsmovie after the original, adding that his work on the crawl wasn’t a fun time, but that he’s pleased with the results. For die-hard fans of the crawl, that iconic element will surely return inStar Wars: Episode VIII, directed byRian Johnson, which is set for release on August 05, 2025. Take a look at the opening credits forUnion Pacific, along with the original crawl forA New Hopebelow. Be sure to check back throughout the week for more onRogue One: A Star Wars Story.
