Go behind the scenes with the cast and crew of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, or simply Rogue One, is an upcoming American epic space opera film[1] directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz, from an idea by visual effects supervisor John Knoll. It will be the first stand-alone Star Wars Anthology film, and the ninth theatrical feature film in the series. Set in the Star Wars universe shortly before the events of A New Hope, the story will center on a group ofRebel spies on a mission to steal the plans for the Galactic Empire‘s new weapon, the Death Star. It will star Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed,Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk and Jonathan Aris.
The film is produced by Lucasfilm and will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Principal photography began at Elstree Studios, near London during early August 2015. Rogue One will be released on December 16, 2016.
Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of various characters “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”.
The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars (subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981[2][3][4]) by 20th Century Fox, which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) andReturn of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans in comparison to the original trilogy. All seven films were nominated for or won Academy Awards, and were commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of $6.46 billion,[5] making Star Wars the fourth highest-grossing film series.[6]
The series has spawned an extensive media franchise—the Star Wars expanded universe—including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books, resulting in significant development of the series’s fictional universe. Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the “Most successful film merchandising franchise.” In 2012, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $30.7 billion, including box-office receipts as well as profits from their video games and DVD sales.[7]
In 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and announced three new Star Wars films; the first film of that trilogy,Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was released in 2015.[8] 20th Century Fox retains the physical distribution rights to the first two Star Warstrilogies, owning permanent rights for the original 1977 film and holding the rights to Episodes I–III, V and VI until May 2020.[9][10] Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, excluding A New Hope.[10][11]
