Star Wars Celebration came to an end on Sunday, but not without giving fans of the beloved franchise one more treat: the first look at Gareth Edwards’ upcoming spinoff film, Star Wars: Rogue One.Â
The Godzilla helmer took the stage to talk a bit about the highly anticipated project, which is the first in a series of planned “anthology” spinoffs that will explore new stories in the Star Wars saga and arrive in between the formal “Episodes.” As previous rumors suggested, Rogue One will take place before the events of A New Hope and focus on a group of rebels looking to steal the plans for the Death Star.
Here’s the synopsis, courtesy of the official Star Wars Twitter account:
A band of resistance fighters unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans in Star Wars anthology film, Rogue One #RogueOne.
— Star Wars (@starwars) April 19, 2015
During the panel, Edwards revealed several details about the film. We now know that Oscar nominee Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) will star as a rebel soldier and there will be no Jedi in the movie. In fact, their absence is a strong part of the narrative, as the story “comes down to a group of individuals that don’t have magic powers, that have to bring hope to the galaxy.”
In addition to those plot details, a brief teaser for the film was shown, and while it hasn’t been officially released yet, one fan managed to capture it on video:
Here it is!: ROGUE ONE TEASER!
Posted by Star Wars: In Character on Sunday, April 19, 2015
Star Wars: Rogue One will hit theaters on December 16h, 2016.
