Plot revealed for "Star Wars" standalone film
The first standalone "Star Wars" film, "Rogue One," will be a prequel to the original 1977 movie, involving efforts by rebel spies to steal the plans of the Death Star, it was revealed during the Star Wars Celebration convention in Anaheim Sunday.
"It comes down to a group who don't have magical powers, who somehow have to bring hope to the galaxy," director Gareth Edwards said.
The story takes place between the events of "Revenge of the Sith" and the original "Star Wars." As noted in the Hollywood Reporter, Edwards said, "The absence of the Jedi is omnipresent in the film. It hangs over the whole movie."
In a sizzle reel shown to fans - twice - an image of the Death Star is seen looming over the horizon of a jungle planet, as Obi-Wan Kenobi is heard intoning about the "dark times" of the Empire.
Edwards also said the film will be very much a war story. "It's called 'Star WARS,'" he joked.
According to Lucasfilm's president Kathleen Kennedy and head of development Kiri Hart, the standalone movies, which are set apart from the story arc and characters in the new trilogy launching this December, will be called "anthology films."
"Rogue One," starring Felicity Jones (an Oscar nominee for "The Theory of Everything") as a rebel soldier, will be shot this summer, and is scheduled for release in December 2016 -- a year after J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" debuts.
Edwards previously directed "Monsters" and the 2014 "Godzilla."
It was also announced during today's panel that the "Force Awakens" teaser trailer released on Thursday was viewed on YouTube 88 million times in the first 24 hours.
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