'Star Wars: Rogue One' filming starts

MANILA, Philippines - Lucasfilm announced recently that their first film in the new standalone Star Wars stories series, “Rogue One,” has begun principal photography.

Gareth Edwards is directing “Rogue One,” which tells the story of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans from the dreaded Death Star. The film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and is slated for a December 16, 2016 release.

The filmmakers have assembled a stellar cast, including Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk and Riz Ahmed.

“‘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.

“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,’” she added.

Veteran ILM visual effects supervisor John Knoll, who shares a long history with the Star Wars movies dating back to the mid-1990s, originated the idea for the movie.

Allison Shearmur, John Knoll, Simon Emanuel and Jason McGatlin are executive producers. While Kiri Hart and John Swartz are co-producers.

To create the lived-in, realistic feel of “Rogue One,” Edwards chose Greig Fraser to be his director of photography and Neil Corbould to be his special effects supervisor. Star Wars and Lucasfilm veteran Doug Chiang and Neil Lamont will be the production designers.

Additional crew members include stunt coordinator Rob Inch, creature effects supervisor Neal Scanlan and co-costume designers Dave Crossman and Glyn Dillon.

“Rogue One” will be released in the Philippines by Walt Disney Studios through Columbia Pictures.