Disney Announces Title of First Star Wars Standalone Movie
This morning in San Francisco, just across the way from the Lucasfilm offices, Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced the title of the first Star Wars standalone movie. Rogue One begins filming this summer and is scheduled to debut on December 16, 2016. The film’s only announced cast so far is Oscar-nominee Felicity Jones. As previously shared, it will be directed by Gareth Edwards and was written by Oscar-nominee Chris Weitz.
The implications of the title alone are exciting. There’s no word of what time period this movie is set in, but this could be the Rogue Squadron movie fans of the (Legends) X-Wing book series (or for some of us the N64 video game) have been pining for. Rogue One was typically the call sign of the leader of Rogue Squadron, a position in past stories that has been held by Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles, and Jaina Solo. If you’ve never read any of the X-Wing series books, I recommend you check them out. There’s a lot of great stories of teamwork in there. The late Aaron Allston’s X-Wing: Starfighters of Adumar is hilarious. You can read my review of the latest book in the series X-Wing: Mercy Kill but beware of spoilers.
Could this first standalone movie also have a female character as the lead? It seems that way and I’m sure all of us here at FANgirl are hoping so. But the announcement on starwars.com‘s wording is “The first actress cast is Felicity Jones, who garnered an Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim for her performance in The Theory of Everything. ” In the mean time, there will be a lot of finger crossing and wishing upon a star over here.
Iger also mentioned that Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII will be out on May 26, 2017. As the official Star Wars website points out, that’s forty years plus a day after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope. That also means less than six months will pass between us watching Star Wars movies in theaters.
Kay grew up wanting to be an astronaut. After seeing Star Wars, she wanted to be Princess Leia, Han Solo, and an astronaut. Life’s taken her on a bit of a different path, but she’s still a Star Wars fangirl at heart who enjoys surprising people with how geeky she really is. Currently a voice actor, photographer, and artist who also consults in communications and marketing, Kay spends the little bit of free time she has reading, writing, learning and, of course, making pew pew noises. She would pick up more jobs and hobbies if she was a Time Lord. You can follow her on Twitter.
Kay is FANgirl's resident geek fashion expert and co-host of the Hyperspace Theories podcast. She reviews books and movies for the site with a heart for storytelling and a mind that likes to analyze. Kay's been a guest on various podcasts sharing her love and knowledge of storytelling, film-making, fashion, and of course, Star Wars.
Most days are filled with her work as a creative services professional - designing websites & branding, photographing, voice acting, editing, and more. Kay spends the little bit of free time she has reading, costuming, and, of course, making pew pew noises. She would pick up more jobs and hobbies if she was a Time Lord.
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