“ROGUE ONE”—THE DARING MISSION HAS BEGUN
Resistance Fighters Unite to Steal Plans for Death
Star
The Official Star
Wars Site has announced that their first film in the new
standalone Star Wars stories series, “Rogue One,” has begun
principal photography. Gareth Edwards (“Godzilla,”
“Monsters”) is directing “Rogue One,” which tells the story
of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans to the dreaded
Death Star. The film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and is slated
for a December 16, 2016 release.
The filmmakers have assembled a stellar cast, including 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; and Riz Ahmed, who was recently
featured in “Nightcrawler” and starred in the BAFTA-winning film
“Four Lions.”
“‘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,” says
Kathleen Kennedy. “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.’”
Veteran ILM visual effects supervisor John Knoll, who shares a
long history with the Star Wars movies, dating back to the
mid-1990s, originated the idea for the movie. Allison Shearmur
(“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Cinderella”), John
Knoll, Simon Emanuel (“The Dark Knight Rises,” “Fast &
Furious 6”) and Jason McGatlin (“Tintin,” “War of the
Worlds”) are executive producers. Kiri Hart and John Swartz
(“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) are co-producers.
To create the lived-in, realistic feel of “Rogue One,”
Edwards chose Greig Fraser (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “Foxcatcher”)
to be his director of photography and Neil Corbould (“Black Hawk
Down,” “Gladiator,” “Saving Private Ryan”) to be his
special effects supervisor. Star Wars and Lucasfilm veteran Doug
Chiang (“Star Wars: Episodes I-II,” “Forrest Gump”) and Neil
Lamont (supervising art director for the “Harry Potter” series,
“Edge of Tomorrow”) will be the production designers. Additional
crew members will include stunt coordinator Rob Inch (“World War
Z,” Marvel’s “Captain America: The First Avenger”), creature
effects supervisor Neal Scanlan (“Prometheus”) and co-costume
designers Dave Crossman (costume supervisor for the “Harry
Potter” series, “Saving Private Ryan”) and Glyn Dillon
(costume concept artist for “Kingsman: The Secret Service,”
“Jupiter Ascending”).
I am loving this new "Golden Age of Star Wars!"
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