Twitter to Live-Stream ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ Exclusive Footage, Q&A With Cast and Director
Twitter this week will exclusively stream a special “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” event — including previously unreleased footage from the forthcoming Disney/Lucasfilm movie — followed by a Q&A with director Gareth Edwards and cast members.
The live-streaming event, hosted by Time Inc.’s People magazine, will start on Friday, Dec. 2, at 10 a.m. Pacific, from “a surprise location.” The video will be available worldwide on Twitter at RogueOne.twitter.com, in Twitter Moments, and via @StarWars and @people accounts, as well as on Twitter apps for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Xbox.
The marketing stunt comes ahead of the Dec. 16 theatrical bow of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” starring Felicity Jones and Diego Luna.
Twitter and Disney are promising fans behind-the-scenes commentary during a live discussion with Edwards, along with Lucasfilm president and producer Kathleen Kennedy and cast members including Jones, Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk and Riz Ahmed.
Fans can submit questions on Twitter for the cast to answer during the event, moderated by People deputy editor JD Heyman, by tweeting the hashtag #AskRogueOne. Fans can also Tweet with the following hashtags and a Star Wars Twitter emoji will automatically appear: #RogueOne, #DeathStar, #StarWars and #StarWarsRogueOne. The live stream will be available to anyone via Twitter’s channels, whether they’re logged in or not.
“Our collaboration with Disney and People will give fans fresh and exciting live ‘Star Wars’ content that they can view and tweet about all on the same platform,” said Twitter COO Anthony Noto.
For Twitter, the “Rogue One” deal marks its latest attempt to build the social service into a bigger destination for live video as a way to attract more users — and keep them on Twitter longer. The company’s live-streaming deals include its pact with the NFL for “Thursday Night Football.” In August, Twitter live-streamed BuzzFeed’s red-carpet coverage from the “Suicide Squad” premiere in New York.
People magazine also is releasing a special newsstand edition on Nov. 30 called “Star Wars: The Secrets of Rogue One,” featuring a virtual-reality bonus pack including goggles, in addition to an original special on the film premiering Nov. 30 on Time Inc.’s People/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN).
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