By: Benjamin Hart
These past couple days have been incredibly exciting thanks to a plethora of reveals for
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story from Entertainment Weekly.
The latest one that was just unveiled features a gallery of new photos from the film along with some brand new accompanying information that is truly fascinating. In the photos we get never before seen looks at our main characters in stunning environments, Stormtroopers, both new and old, and some behind the scenes shots. You can check them all out below!
First off, we get some shots of Jyn Erso, played by Felcity Jones. Industrial Light & Magic CEO John Knoll, who came up with the story for Rogue One and is an executive producer on the film, spoke briefly about why he felt the story should be focused on a female hero and her father:
“I’m a father with three daughters, and I felt it was time to have a really good, smart, resourceful, strong female character in the lead of a movie like this,.. I wrote that before I saw a treatment for Episode VII, so I didn’t know about Rey.”
Next, we get a better shot of Diego Luna's character, Captain Cassian Andor. Kiri Hart of the Lucasfilm Story Group explains that Andor is an experienced fighter who's seen a lot but isn't interested in discussing it:
"He has a weariness that he carries. It comes from, 'We’re in it, I’m committed for the long fight, and it’s not something that I came to yesterday.'"
Furthermore, we get an assortment of new glimpses at the characters Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus, portrayed by Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen, respectively. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy reveals that these characters take ques from works that inspired Star Wars' creation in the first place; the two peasants in Kurosawa's
The Hidden Fortress:
“They’re inspired, again, by what inspired George in The Hidden Fortress. You could even say to some extent it’s, you know, R2 and C-3PO, a little bit of that.”
Next up, we get a better look at the security droid character K-2SO, played by Alan Tudyk. Director Gareth Edwards desrcibes Kaytoo as a "blunt" speaker who will be a source of humor as well:
"He has a very dry delivery. He doesn’t realize what he's saying is very funny."
And rounding out the heroes we have new photo of Bohdi Rook, played by Riz Ahmed:
And now, on to the villains. While
Darth Vader will have a presence in the film, Director Orson Krennic, played by Ben Mendolsohn, will be the main antagonist of the story. Krennic is the one in charge of protecting the Death Star in its final stages of construction. Kiri Hart explains how Krennic is similar, but also very different from Imperial officers we've seen in the past, such as Wilhuff Tarkin:
“Tarkin is the model for these really cool, icy types, you know? Krennic runs a little hotter than that, so that’s kind of fun and it’s a little bit different. … He is unpredictable and volatile.”
Next, some stunning looks at the new Death Troopers. In the first photo you may notice that the Trooper is carrying a Stormtrooper doll. EW confirms that is indeed the Star Wars equivalent of an action figure, although it's unclear how it will figure into the plot:
And as we see the Death Troopers in a beach enviroment, we also get looks at some classic Stormtroopers in similar surroundings. EW reports that this aquatic landscape will represent a yet-to-be-revealed world that is in the vicinity of the Death Star at the time of Rogue One. Gareth Edwards confirms that these scenes were filmed on the tropical island nation of Maldives in the Indian Ocean. He also discusses that the real world influences on this portion of the film:
“There’s this sort of South Pacific, tropical paradise planet that subconsciously leads into some of the imagery associated with World War II. We went to lots of different places around the world, and one of them was the Maldives. When you're shooting Stormtroopers in paradise, you have the best job in the world, you know? You can't really deny it at that point.”
And last, but certainly not least, we have a behind the scenes shot which EW confirms is from the set of the Yavin IV Rebel base. In it, we see(from left to right) Alan Tudyk(in motion capture gear), Felicty Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen and Gareth Edwards:
Be sure to head over to
Entertainment Weekly to see more! Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in theaters on December 16th!
Source: Entertainment Weekly
