Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One is now known as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as officially announced at D23 on Saturday from Anaheim, California. In addition, two new actors were added to the Rogue One cast list and the first official image from the set was released to commemorate the start of principal photography.
Mads Mikkelsen and Alan Tudyk are the latest additions to the cast under the direction of Gareth Edwards, the latter of whom will be playing a performance-capture character. They join previously announced Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker and Riz Ahmed.
Rogue One tells the tale of a group of resistance fighters who set out to steal the Death Star plans. As the opening of Star Wars: Episode IV tells us, they succeed and somehow get the plans into the possession of Princess Leia.
“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,” said Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in today’s announcement. “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.”
Though Lucasfilm and Disney have just now announced the start of principal photography, drones have already captured some outdoor shooting starring some familiar looking troopers.
Here’s the first Star Wars: Rogue One image that you can click for the high resolution version. Some are already speculating that this shot is from the infamous Massassi Temple where the Rebels set up shop and launch their historic strike against the Death Star. I also want to point out that at least three characters in this shot are wearing outfits similar to those worn on the planet Hoth by the Rebels in The Empire Strikes Back.
Source: Star Wars
