Rogue One’s Scarif got its name after a coffee shop gaffe

It’s the little things that can sometimes trip up filmmakers, as they can struggle with a line of dialogue, a camera a millimetre out of position, or simply trying to fathom up a surname for a character.

During the development of ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ Gareth Edwards was given a helping hand in solving one of these quandaries from a truly unlikely source. That’s because one of the world’s most reputed coffee shops probably deserves a co-writing credit on ‘Rogue One’, after a barista misheard his name, bizarrely thought he was called Scarif, wrote it on his coffee cup, and created movie history.

After seeing this moniker on his drink, Gareth Edwards instantly decided that it was perfect name for the planet that would house the final battle scene of ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,’ and put it into the script.

The English filmmaker made this admission at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, recently, which was attended by The Hollywood Reporter. Gareth Edwards recalled, “I must have said, ‘It’s Gareth,’ and they wrote, ‘Scarif.’

Gareth Edwards should watch out, because a thousand Starbucks employees are now about to lawyer up and try to take the credit for that idea, while he can definitely expect to see his coffee cups plastered with log-lines and script ideas for the foreseeable future, too.

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