Star Wars: Rogue One Begins Principle Photography; Main Cast Announced

Principle photography has begun on Star Wars: Rogue One, Lucasfilm announced during Disney's annual D23 celebration event this weekend. Rogue One is the first film in the Star Wars: Story series that takes place outside the main saga. The film will center around a group of resistance fighters who attempt to steal the Death Star plans.

Rogue One is being directed by Gareth Edwards, whose previous films include Godzilla and Monsters. THe film features an all-star cast including Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Diego Luna (Milk), Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline), Donnie Yen (IP Man), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), and Alan Tudyk (Firefly) in a performance-capture role.

“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.”

Rogue One is set for release on December 16, 2016.