New 'Rogue One' trailer: What does holiday season hold for Hollywood?

A new trailer has been released for the upcoming “Star Wars” film “Rogue One,” a film that is expected to be one of the box office highlights of the end of the year following a difficult summer for Hollywood. 

The new trailer gives the viewer more of protagonist Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). Her father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), appears to encounter villain Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) when Jyn is young, and now it’s her father in which the Rebellion seems interested. 

“It appears he’s critical to the development of a superweapon,” Rebellion leader Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) tells her. 

Later, Jyn is seen encouraging her comrades. 

“We have hope,” she says. “Rebellions are built on hope.” 

The film co-stars Riz Ahmed, Alan Tudyk, Diego Luna, Forest Whitaker, and Donnie Yen.

The movie is coming out in December, as Hollywood is no doubt looking ahead to the blockbuster hopefuls that will be released before the end of 2016. 

Overall box office for the summer was only .04 percent less than 2015, according to TheWrap. But there were a lot of blockbuster hopefuls, including “Independence Day: Resurgence,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows,” “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” and “The BFG,” that didn’t do as well financially as their studios had hoped.

But holiday movie seasons often have blockbusters of their own, and this winter will see the launch of “Rogue One,” the “Harry Potter” spin-off “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the Disney animated movie “Moana,” the video game adaptation "Assassin's Creed," the science fiction film "Passengers," and the newest Marvel superhero movie, “Doctor Strange.” 

Of those movies, three are coming from Disney, owner of the “Star Wars” franchise and the Marvel films. Those movies could do well, as Deadline writer Anthony D’Alessandro wrote after Disney’s strong track record this summer.

The success of "Finding Dory" "continues to underscore the studio’s ability to harness nostalgia eloquently across generations,” Mr. D’Alessandro wrote.

“Meanwhile, Marvel with its infinite interloping superhero stories, doesn’t just settle for hanging its hat on triple-digit opening weekends, but ensures that each chapter of its infinite universe wows both critics and the masses," he writes. "Yes, there was ‘Alice 2,’ but you can’t deny that Disney has an excellent track record in the franchise business.”

Guardian writer Benjamin Lee wrote that he is also looking forward to “Rogue One” and “Fantastic Beasts.” “This summer might have been a disappointment,” he wrote. “But this spring definitely wasn’t, and this autumn and winter, bringing along new ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Harry Potter’ spin-offs, is unlikely to be either.” 

Even so, the overall box office financial performance for the year could be in trouble in comparison to 2015, warns Tom Brueggemann of Indiewire. “Fall and Christmas have their share of highly anticipated films, but let’s not kid ourselves,” he wrote. “To top 2015, the rest of the year would have to make up for the $652 million the ‘Star Wars’ reboot [‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’] earned in its first two weeks, as well as finding films that equal or better $200 million+ [2015] fall successes like ‘The Martian,’ the final ‘Hunger Games’ films, and the most recent James Bond.”