Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 2016

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy. Produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the first Star Wars anthology film and a prequel to Star Wars (1977). It stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, and Forest Whitaker. Set a week before the events of Star Wars, the film follows rebels who steal the schematics for the Galactic Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star. It details the Rebel Alliance's first effective victory against the Empire, as referenced in the Star Wars opening crawl. John Knoll, who served as the visual effects supervisor of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, pitched Rogue One's story as an episode of the unproduced television series Star Wars: Underworld in 2003. He pitched it again as a film following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012; Edwards was hired to direct in 2014.