Movie

The Gareth Edwards-directed movie is revealed to follow a group of resistance fighters who try to steal the Death Star plans during a time when there is no Jedi.

Apr 20, 2015

AceShowbiz - A teaser trailer for one of "Star Wars" stand-alone movies "Rogue One" debuted at "Star Wars" Celebration in Anaheim. Producer Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm's vice president of development Kiri Hart, and director Gareth Edwards attended the event during which they also revealed the plot and the timeline.

"For over a thousand of generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the Dark Times. Before the Empire," says a voiceover as the camera slowly moves through a vast jungle before Death Star is seen looming in the sky and a crowd of people is heard screaming.

It seems the movie will serve as a prequel to the original trilogy since the story is set to take place between "Episode III" and "Episode IV". The focus will be on the Death Star heist as suggested in a short synopsis that reads, "A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans."

"Rogue One" is expected to be very much like a war picture. "It's called Star WARS," Edwards joked. Sharing a few more tidbits, the "Godzilla" director said, "It's about the fact that god's not coming to save us, and we're on our own. The absence of the Jedi is omnipresent in the film. It hangs over the whole movie."

Fittingly, VFX supervisor Neil Corblud previously worked on war movies like "Black Hawk Down" and "Saving Private Ryan" and Director of Photography Greig Fraser worked on "Zero Dark Thirty (2012)". Felicity Jones is confirmed to play a rebel in the feature film which is due December 16, 2016 in the States.

A part of George Lucas' idea to explore all corners of the "Star Wars" universe, the stand-alone movies were originally called spin-offs but they are now named "anthology films." Hart explained, "We really wanted freedom to do some films that could stand on their own, and tell new stories."

Josh Trank who will direct the other stand-alone movie was initially scheduled to join the panel at the final day of the fan-centric event on Sunday, April 19, but he bailed out due to illness.