ROGUE ONE -- First standalone STAR WARS film takes off on Dec. 15

POTATO ON THE GO NEWS FEED (Movie):

Lucasfilm presents “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” the first in a new series of Star Wars standalone films set in the universe fans know and love, but featuring new characters and storylines.

When Lucasfilm president and Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy first sat down with George Lucas as he outlined his plans to continue with the Star Wars saga and to make Episodes VII, VIII and IX, he also revealed another ambition: “George decided he was going to make more saga films, but he said he felt there was also an opportunity to tell more stories inside the universe,” explains Kennedy, “and to make films not related to the Luke Skywalker story.”


And so was born the idea of creating films that would complement the new saga films, but also allow Kennedy and the Lucasfilm team to explore the universe and experiment with different styles and different ways of telling stories.

“Rogue One” tells the story of a group of unlikely heroes, who in a time of conflict band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is directed by Gareth Edwards (“Godzilla,” “Monsters”) and produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Cinderella”) and Simon Emanuel (“The Dark Knight Rises,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1&2”). Veteran ILM visual effects supervisor John Knoll (“Pirates of the Caribbean”), who shares a long history with the Star Wars films, is executive producer alongside Jason McGatlin (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, “The War of the Worlds”).

Academy® and BAFTA Award nominee Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything”) heads up the cast and stars opposite Diego Luna (“Milk,” “Elysium”). Joining them are Ben Mendelsohn (“The Dark Knight Rises”), Mads Mikkelsen (“Doctor Strange”), Alan Tudyk (“Frozen,” “I Robot”), Riz Ahmed (“Jason Bourne”) and Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland”). The film also welcomes two of China’s biggest stars, Donnie Yen (“Ip Man,” “Blade II”) and Jiang Wen (“Let the Bullets Fly,” “The Sun Also Rises”).

To create the distinctive and contemporary look of the film, Edwards chose revered cinematographer Greig Fraser (“Zero Dark Thirty”) who teams with Academy Award®–winning special effects supervisor Neil Corbould (“Black Hawk Down”). Star Wars veteran Doug Chiang (Star Wars Episodes I and II, “Forrest Gump”) and Neil Lamont (supervising art director on The Force Awakens and the “Harry Potter” film series) join forces as production designers, and Neal Scanlan (“Prometheus”) returns as creature effects supervisor having recently won a BAFTA for his work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Additional key crew include costume designers Dave Crossman (costume supervisor on The Force Awakens and the “Harry Potter” film series) and Glyn Dillon (The Force Awakens and “Kingsman: The Secret Service” costume concept artist), as well as stunt coordinator Rob Inch (The Force Awakens, “World War Z”).

Opening across the Philippines on December 15, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Columbia Pictures.