Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One


#1

This morning at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, across the street from Lucasfilm, Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger hosted a shareholder meeting where he announced news regarding the first Star Wars stand-alone movie as well as Star Wars: Episode VIII.

Rogue One is the title for the first film in a unique series of big-screen adventures that explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga. Rogue One will be directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and written by Oscar nominee Chris Weitz (Cinderella, About a Boy, Antz). The first actress cast is Felicity Jones, who garnered an Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim for her performance in The Theory of Everything. The idea for the story of Rogue One came from John Knoll, an Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic. He will executive produce along with Simon Emanuel (The Dark Knight Rises, Fast & Furious 6) and Jason McGatlin (Tintin, War of the Worlds). Kathleen Kennedy and Tony To (Band of Brothers, The Pacific) are on board to produce and John Swartz (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will co-produce. The film starts shooting this summer in London and is due for release on December 16, 2016.

In addition, Iger confirmed that Rian Johnson will write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII. The film, which continues the saga after the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is set for release on May 26, 2017 — forty years and a day after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. Johnson is widely considered one of cinema’s most gifted young filmmakers, having directed the modern sci-fi classic, Looper, as well as Brick and The Brothers Bloom. He was also behind the camera for three episodes of the critically-acclaimed TV series Breaking Bad, including “Ozymandias,” which series creator Vince Gilligan named as the best installment of the show. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman, producer of Looper, Don Jon, Brick, and The Brothers Bloom, are on board to produce, and J.J. Abrams will serve as executive producer.

I suppose this is that rumored movie that would have a younger Han and Boba in it.


#2

The official title is Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One.

It’ll be out on December 2016.

Obi-Wan voice over in the teaser: “For more than a thousand generations, the Jedi knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the old republic, before the dark times, before the empire.”

Plot Synopsis: “A rogue band of resistance fighters unite to steal the Death Star plans and bring new hope to the galaxy.”

  • Takes place between Ep III & IV
  • Nearly no jedi will be in the film, “comes down to a group of heroes
    without magic powers” - Gareth Edwards
  • Felicity Jones plays a rebel soldier
  • Filming starts this summer
  • Cinematography is Greig Fraser (Foxcatcher, Zero Dark Thirty)
  • Neil Corbould is doing SFX (Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Saving
    Private Ryan)

#3

First image.

It looks fucking great. I like the grittiness/ruggedness of the wardrobe.


#4