Gareth Edwards has just started rolling his cameras on the next of the Star Wars films, Rogue One. He wasn’t able to make it to Anaheim and the stage of Disney’s D23, but he sent a video greeting along with some casting confirmation for the film. His cast reveals included Mads Mikkelsen, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Alan Tudyk and, yes, Ben Mendelsohn. All are aboard the film.
They join the already-confirmed Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed and Forest Whitaker in the Anthology entry, which tells the story of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans to the dreaded original Death Star. “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,” says Kathleen Kennedy (who also wasn’t there because she was busy taking her daughter to college) in a statement. “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.”
It’s certainly an eclectic cast (with Tudyk donning a performance-capture suit for his character, which promises to give him flashbacks to his days working on I, Robot), and we’re happy to see that Mendelsohn, who had been rumoured for many moons, was able to make a deal. Edwards has Greig Frasier as his cinematographer, with Neil Corbould on special effects supervision and Doug Chiang and Neil Lamont as production designers. Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz worked on the screenplay, based on an idea by ILM veteran John Knoll.
Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One will fly into UK cinemas on December 16, 2016.
For eveything we know about Rogue One, read our complete guide.