Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (or simply Rogue One) is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards. The screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy is from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. It was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the first installment of the Star Wars anthology series and an immediate prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). The main cast consists of Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, and Forest Whitaker. Set a week before Star Wars, the plot follows a group of rebels who band together to steal plans of the Death Star, the ultimate weapon of the Galactic Empire. It details the Rebel Alliance’s first effective victory against the Empire, first referenced in Star Wars’ opening crawl.
Based on an idea first pitched by Knoll ten years before it entered development, the film was made to be different in tone and style from the traditional Star Wars films, omitting the customary opening crawl and transitional screen wipes.
Principal photography on the film began at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, in early August 2015 and wrapped in February 2016. The film then went through extensive reshoots in mid-2016. With an estimated production budget of at least $220 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made.
Rogue One premiered in Los Angeles on December 10, 2016, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 16. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its acting, story, visuals, musical score, and dark tone, but criticism for its pacing, characters, and digital recreations of Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher. It grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it the 20th-highest-grossing film of all time and the second-highest-grossing film of 2016 during its theatrical run. It received two Academy Award nominations for Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects. Andor, a spin-off television series starring Luna, debuted on Disney+ on September 21, 2022.
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Plot.
Research scientist Galen Erso and his family are in hiding on the planet Lah’mu when Imperial weapons developer Orson Krennic arrives to press him into completing the Death Star, a space station-based superweapon capable of destroying planets. Galen’s wife Lyra is killed in the confrontation while their daughter Jyn escapes and is rescued by rebel extremist Saw Gerrera. Fifteen years later, cargo pilot Bodhi Rook defects from the Empire, taking a holographic message recorded by Galen to Gerrera on the desert moon Jedha. Rebel Alliance intelligence officer Cassian Andor learns of Rook’s defection and the Death Star from an informant. Jyn is freed from an Imperial labor camp at Wobani and is brought to the Rebel leaders Bail Organa and Mon Mothma,
who convince her to find and rescue Galen so the Alliance can learn more about the Death Star. Cassian is covertly ordered to kill Galen rather than extract him.
Jyn, Cassian, and reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO travel to Jedha, where the Empire is removing kyber crystals from the holy city to power the Death Star; Gerrera and his partisans are engaged in an armed insurgency against them. With the aid of blind spiritual warrior Chirrut ÃŽmwe and his mercenary friend Baze Malbus, Jyn makes contact with Gerrera, who has been holding Rook captive. Gerrera shows her the message in which Galen reveals he has secretly built a vulnerability into the Death Star and directs them to retrieve the schematics from an Imperial data bank on the planet Scarif.
Casting.
In January 2015, The Hollywood Reporter stated numerous actresses, including Tatiana Maslany, Rooney Mara, and Felicity Jones were being tested for the film’s lead. In February 2015, it was announced Jones was in final talks to star in the film, while Aaron Paul and Édgar RamÃrez were being eyed for the male lead role. In March 2015, Jones was officially cast. In March 2015, Deadline Hollywood reported a rumor that Ben Mendelsohn was being considered for a lead role. The next month, TheWrap reported that Sam Claflin was being eyed for a role, while Riz Ahmed was in negotiations to join the film. In May, Mendelsohn, Ahmed, and Diego Luna were added to the cast of the film, in the lead roles. Forest Whitaker was added to the cast in June 2015. In July 2015, Jonathan Aris was cast to play Senator Jebel. Genevieve O’Reilly was cast as Mon Mothma, reprising her role from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. James Earl Jones was confirmed to return as the voice of Darth Vader in June 2016.
Filming.
Principal photography on the film began at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, on August 8, 2015. Much of the other photography was completed near Pinewood Studios at Buckinghamshire, UK where huge sets were built to complement scenes filmed elsewhere in the world. The film was shot using Ultra Panavision 70 lenses with Arri Alexa 65 large format digital 6K cameras. Filming locations were used around the world. In Iceland, the crew shot in Reynisfjara, and around the mountains of Hjörleifshöfði and Hafursey at Mýrdalssandur, which were used to represent Lah’mu and Eadu. Also used were the Krafla area with its volcanic crater and around Lake Mývatn’s rock formations. The islands of Gan and Baresdhoo of the Laamu Atoll in the Maldives, as well as the former RAF Bovingdon airfield, were used to represent Scarif.
Box office.
Rogue One grossed $534.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $523.9 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $1.057 billion. Deadline Hollywood calculated the film’s net profit as $319.6 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it third on their list of 2016’s “Most Valuable Blockbusters”. In late November 2016, box office projections for the United States and Canada had the film grossing $100–150 million during its opening weekend. Disney chairman Bob Iger noted that Disney and Lucasfilm did not expect Rogue One to match The Force Awakens’ total gross of $2.1 billion, nor its $248 million opening. Pre-sale tickets for the film went on sale at 12:01 AM EST on November 28, 2016.RELATED:
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Within 10 minutes, ticket sale sites such as Fandango crashed, much like they had in advance of The Force Awakens the year prior. In its first 24 hours, the film had the second-highest number of pre-sale tickets ever sold, behind only The Force Awakens. Worldwide, the film was expected to gross $280–350 million in its opening weekend.
n the United States, the film made $29 million from its Thursday night previews, making it the highest-grossing Thursday opening of 2016. On Friday, the film grossed $71.1 million, and $46.3 million the next day, securing a total of $155.1 million in its opening weekend, the third-biggest debut of 2016. It topped the box office once again in its second weekend, grossing $64 million (down 58.7%) over the three day weekend, and $96.1 million over the four day weekend.