Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016 (Walt Disney Pictures)Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, or simply Rogue One, is an upcoming American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz, from an idea by visual effects supervisor John Knoll. It will be the first stand-alone Star Wars Anthology film, and the ninth theatrical feature film in the series. Set in the Star Wars universe shortly before the events of A New Hope, the story will center on a group of Rebel spies on a mission to steal the plans for the Galactic Empire's new weapon, the Death Star. It will star Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk and Jonathan Aris.
The film is produced by Lucasfilm and will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Principal photography began at Elstree Studios, near London during early August 2015. Rogue One will be released on December 16, 2016.