Gareth Edwards Talks About 'Star Wars: Rogue One'

An early teaser for "Star Wars: Rogue One" was released on April 19 on the final day of the Star Wars Celebration at Anaheim. The director, Gareth Edwards, unveiled the short, one-minute teaser for the film which featured a voice-over from Alec Guinness’s Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Lucas Films executives Kathleen Kennedy, Pablo Hidalgo and Kiri Hart were joined in a panel discussion by Edwards and Industrial Light & Magic’s John Knoll. The panel revealed everything that they could about the upcoming project which is set for release in December 2016.

“I couldn’t sit in a cinema and know that someone else made this film,” Edwards said according to StarWars.com. The director also revealed that the spin off will “revolve around a rogue band of resistance fighters" united to steal Death Star plans and bring new hope to the galaxy.

"Star Wars: Rogue One" is set to take place between the "Revenge of the Sith" and "A New Hope." The movie is the first in a trilogy of stand alone movies. These movies will be called "Star Wars Anthology" and will premiere between each chapter of the latest trilogy, which begins with Star Wars: The Force Awakens" this December.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, on March 12, Disney head Bob Iger, had announced at an annual shareholder's meeting that the stand alone movie would be named "Rogue One". An earlier report had stated that Oscar nominee Felicity Jones was finalized as the female lead in the "Star Wars" stand-alone film.

Entertainment Weekly reported that the panel let slip some details about Jones' character. The "Theory of Everything" actor will play a soldier on the side of the Rebellion. The report also states that Edwards' movie will be about characters who embody the gray area between good and evil.

Many on the production team have worked of realistic war movies like "Black Hawk Down," Zero Dark Thirty" and "Saving Private Ryan" leading fans to believe that the "Rogue One" will be darker than any other "Star Wars" movies. “Star Wars: Rogue One” hits theaters Dec. 16, 2016.

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