After months of secrecy, the cast and crew of 'Star Wars: Rogue One' have finally been officially confirmed.
Starwars.com has announced that the first 'Star Wars Anthology' film has begun principal photography and has already released the first official photo of the cast in their resistance fighter costumes.
The picture features 'The Theory of Everything' star Felicity Jones in the foreground with Riz Ahmed, Diego Luna, Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen posed behind her.
In addition to the release of the cast photo, additional cast members were also announced. The cast list includes Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen and Alan Tudyk, who will play a performance capture character in the film. There are speculations that the 'Con Man' star will appear as either a droid or an alien in 'Star Wars: Rogue One.'
Simon Emanuel, Jason McGatlin and Allison Shearmur will serve as executive producers together with John Knoll, who came up with the original idea for 'Rogue One.' John Swartz and Kiri Hart will be co-producers.
Greig Fraser will the the director of photography, while Neil Corbould will be the special effects superviser. Doug Chiang and Neil Lamont will both serve as production designers.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy explains the story of the first 'Star Wars Anthology' film.
"'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," Kennedy said. "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."
Kennedy also had nothing but praise for director Gareth Edwards.
"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,'" she said.
'Star Wars: Rogue One' is scheduled for release on December 16, 2016.
