This year’s San Diego Comic Con was a bit light when it came to ‘Star Wars’ news, but it seems that Lucasfilm has decided to make up for that at this weekend’s D23! Not only do we finally have an official cast list for ‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ (the first of 3 ‘Star Wars’ standalone films set to be part of the ‘Star Wars Anthology’ series), but we also have the first official cast photo!
The film is being helmed by Garth Edwards (‘Godzilla,’ ‘Monsters’) and from the looks of the new title page will be going by ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.’ From what we already know, ‘Rogue One’ will take place before ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ and tells the story of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans to the dreaded Death Star.
In a press release announcing the cast, producer Kathleen Kennedy states:
‘‘Rogue One’ takes place before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope and will be a departure from the saga films but have elements that are familiar to the Star Wars universe. It goes into new territory, exploring the galactic struggle from a ground-war perspective while maintaining that essential Star Wars feel that fans have come to know. Gareth is such an innovative director and I’m so excited to be working with him and the extraordinary ensemble cast he’s selected for ‘Rogue One.’”
Speaking of the cast, here’s the first official image from the film followed by a list of who will be starring:
Felicity Jones, nominated for an Academy Award® for her leading role in “The Theory of Everything”
Diego Luna, who was featured in 2008’s Oscar®-winning “Milk” and the critically acclaimed “Killing Them Softly”
Ben Mendelsohn, recently nominated for an Emmy® for his leading role in “Bloodline” and co-starring in the upcoming “Mississippi Grind”
Donnie Yen, Hong Kong action star and martial artist who starred in “Ip Man” and “Blade II”; Jiang Wen, who co-wrote, produced , directed and starred in the award-winning “Let the Bullets Fly” and “Devils on the Doorstep”
Forest Whitaker, recently featured in the critically-acclaimed Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” and winner of an Academy Award® for his leading role in 2006’s “The Last King of Scotland
Mads Mikkelsen, who starred in “The Hunt” and was the memorable villain from 2006’s “Casino Royale”
Alan Tudyk, who plays a performance-capture character in “Rogue One,” stars in the soon-to-be-released “Con Man” series and “Trumbo,” which releases this November
Riz Ahmed, who was recently featured in “Nightcrawler” and starred in the BAFTA-winning film “Four Lions.”
Production is slated to begin soon with an anticipated release date for December 16, 2016.