Felicity Jones plays Jyn Erso in Rogue One. (Disney/LucasFilm).
During NBC’s Rio Olympics coverage, Disney and Lucasfilm unveiled the new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It’s the first trailer since April. In the months since that original trailer was released, the film has been dogged by rumors of production difficulties, although the panel at Star Wars Celebration Europe was meant to ease fans’ concerns. Here’s what we learned from the new trailer.
In the new trailer, we see the Rebellion taking on incredible odds. K-2SO, the droid played by Alan Tudyk, is just like C-3PO, spouting off odds that no one wants to hear. Churrut Imwe, Donnie Yen’s character, is a Force user.
It’s also clear in this trailer that Jyn Erso is the leader of this rag-tag group of rebels. It also ends with the breathing of Darth Vader, who will be voiced by James Earl Jones.
Whether or not the film turns out to be any good, we already know how it will end. Rogue One is set before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, and tells the story of the Rebels who steal the plans of the Death Star. Somehow, those plans will end up in the hands of Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), who delivers them to R2-D2 and changes the course of the galaxy’s history. All we don’t know is what happens between the time Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is assigned to get the plans.
Rogue One was directed by Gareth Edwards, who reportedly had help from Michael Clayton filmmaker Tony Gilroy. The screenplay is credited to Chris Weitz, while the story is credited to Gary Whitta and special effects Oscar-winner John Knoll.
The ensemble cast is stacked. In addition to Jones, Forest Whittaker plays Saw Gerrera, a character who made his debut in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Riz Ahmed is Bodhi Rook, a former Imperial pilot. Diego Luna stars as Captain Cassian Andor. Alan Tudyk has a motion-capture role as the droid K-2SO. Wen Jiang is Bace Malbus and Donnie Yen is Churrut Imwe. Lastly, Ben Mendelsohn plays the Imperial officer on hour heroes’ tails, Director Orson Krennic. Mads Mikkelsen stars as Erso’s father.
Rogue One opens on December 16.
