Release Date: December 16, 2016 Hate to do this. Hate to end this article on a controversial note, proclaiming that the upcoming Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One, is an unnecessary venture. Deep down, though, you know the truth: you know that there's no real reason for Rogue One to exist, except as a means to sell Star Wars to feverish fans as they await the next proper movie. Because, c'mon, was this a story that ever needed to be told? Has anybody ever spent more than a couple of seconds wondering how the Death Star plans came into the possession of the Rebels? If you said "Yes," you've got far too much time on your hands. And even if you did wonder, isn't wondering the best part? Does there genuinely need to be a movie set between Episodes III and Episode IV, bridging the mysterious gap? Didn't anybody consider that, hey, some things are left best to the imagination? That, you know, filling in all the blank spots in the famous space saga might kill some of the magic? That's not to say that Rogue One will be bad, by the way; unlike so many of the movies covered in this article, there's a good chance it'll be genuinely great. Gareth Edwards is a highly competent director, whilst the cast - which includes Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn and Riz Ahmed - looks fantastic. But given this list set out to cover unnecessary sequels, it would be insincere to pretend that the cash-grabbing Rogue One is anything else. Like this article? What do you make of these sequels? Do you agree or disagree that these films are unnecessary? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
