Rogue One facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rogue One: A Star Wars Story |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Gareth Edwards |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Music by | Michael Giacchino |
| Cinematography | Greig Fraser |
| Editing by |
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| Studio | Lucasfilm Ltd. |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 10, 2016 (Pantages Theatre) December 16, 2016 (United States) |
| Running time | 134 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $200–280.2 million |
| Money made | $1.059 billion |
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is an exciting 2016 American space opera film. It was directed by Gareth Edwards. The story was written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy. This movie is the first standalone Star Wars film. It tells a story that happened before the very first Star Wars movie from 1977.
The film stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, and many other talented actors. Rogue One takes place just one week before Star Wars: A New Hope. It follows a brave group of rebels. Their mission is to steal the secret plans for the Galactic Empire's super-weapon, the Death Star. This movie shows the Rebel Alliance's first big win against the Empire. This victory is even mentioned in the famous Star Wars opening text.
The idea for Rogue One came from John Knoll. He was a visual effects supervisor for the Star Wars prequel movies. He first thought of the story in 2003. After Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, he suggested it again as a movie. Gareth Edwards was chosen to direct in 2014. Edwards wanted Rogue One to feel more like a war film. It does not have the usual opening text crawl or screen wipes seen in other Star Wars movies. Filming started in August 2015 and finished in February 2016. The movie had some extra filming sessions in mid-2016. The music was created by Michael Giacchino. Rogue One was a very expensive movie to make.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story first showed in Los Angeles on December 10, 2016. It was released in theaters in the United States on December 16. The movie received good reviews. People liked the acting, story, visuals, music, and its more serious tone. However, some found the story's speed and characters a bit weak. The digital versions of Carrie Fisher and Peter Cushing also received mixed reactions. Rogue One earned over $1 billion worldwide. It was the second-highest-grossing film of 2016. It was also nominated for two Academy Awards. A TV series called Andor was made as a prequel to Rogue One. It aired on Disney+ from 2022 to 2025.
Contents
The Story of Rogue One
The movie begins with scientist Galen Erso and his family hiding on a planet called Lah'mu. An Imperial officer named Orson Krennic finds them. Krennic wants Galen to finish building the Death Star. This is a giant weapon that can destroy entire planets. Galen's wife, Lyra, is killed. Their daughter, Jyn, escapes and is saved by a rebel named Saw Gerrera.
Fifteen years later, a pilot named Bodhi Rook leaves the Empire. He carries a secret message from Galen to Saw on the moon Jedha. Rebel Alliance officer Cassian Andor learns about the Death Star and Bodhi's defection. Jyn is freed from an Imperial prison. She is taken to the rebel base on Yavin 4. Rebel leader Mon Mothma asks Jyn to find Galen. They want to learn more about the Death Star. Cassian is secretly told to kill Galen, not rescue him.
Jyn, Cassian, and their reprogrammed droid K-2SO travel to Jedha. The Empire is taking kyber crystals from Jedha. These crystals power the Death Star. In Jedha City, Saw Gerrera and his fighters are battling the Empire. Jyn and Cassian get caught in the fight. They are helped by a blind warrior named Chirrut Îmwe and his friend Baze Malbus. Jyn meets Saw, who is holding Bodhi. Saw shows Jyn a message from Galen. Galen reveals he secretly built a weakness into the Death Star. The plans for this weakness are in an Imperial data vault on the planet Scarif.
The Death Star tests its weapon, destroying Jedha City. Jyn and her group escape with Bodhi. Saw stays behind and dies. Imperial Governor Grand Moff Tarkin takes control of the Death Star from Krennic. Bodhi leads the group to Galen's Imperial lab on the planet Eadu. Cassian almost kills Galen but hesitates. Rebel bombers attack the lab. Galen is badly hurt and dies in Jyn's arms. Jyn and her group escape on a stolen Imperial shuttle. Darth Vader calls Krennic to account for the attack on Jedha City. Vader uses the Force to choke Krennic. He orders Krennic to fix any problems.
Jyn suggests a mission to steal the Death Star plans. But the Rebel Council thinks they cannot win. Jyn's group, which Bodhi calls "Rogue One," decides to go anyway. They take a small group of volunteers to raid the vault. They use the stolen shuttle to get past Scarif's shield. Jyn, Cassian, and K-2SO sneak into the base. The others fight the Imperial soldiers as a distraction.
The Rebel Alliance learns about the raid. They send their fleet to help. A big space battle starts against the Imperial forces. K-2SO sacrifices himself so Jyn and Cassian can get the data. Chirrut is killed after activating a switch to contact the rebel fleet. Baze is killed soon after. Bodhi is killed by a grenade. But he tells the rebel fleet they must turn off the planetary shield. This will let the plans be sent. Rebel Admiral Raddus crashes a rebel ship into two Imperial Star Destroyers. The wreckage destroys the shield generator. Jyn gets the plans. Krennic ambushes her, but Cassian shoots him. Jyn sends the plans to the rebel command ship. The Death Star arrives above Scarif, commanded by Tarkin. He orders the Death Star to destroy the base. Krennic is killed in the blast. Jyn and Cassian are also killed by the shock wave.
The rebel fleet gets ready to jump to hyperspace. But Darth Vader's Star Destroyer stops many ships. Vader boards the rebel command ship. He fights many troops to get the plans back. But a smaller ship escapes with them. On the fleeing ship, Princess Leia Organa says the plans will bring hope to the Rebellion.
Main Characters
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- Felicity Jones plays Jyn Erso: A young rebel who is freed from prison. She helps the Rebel Alliance steal the Death Star plans.
- Beau Gadsdon plays Jyn at eight years old.
- Dolly Gadsdon plays Jyn at four years old.
- Diego Luna plays Cassian Andor: A rebel captain and smart intelligence officer.
- Ben Mendelsohn plays Orson Krennic: The Imperial director in charge of advanced weapons.
- Donnie Yen plays Chirrut Îmwe: A blind warrior who believes strongly in the Force. He is not a Jedi.
- Mads Mikkelsen plays Galen Erso: Jyn's father and a research scientist.
- Alan Tudyk provides the voice and motion-capture for K-2SO: A former Imperial droid. He was reprogrammed to help the Rebellion.
- Riz Ahmed plays Bodhi Rook: A former Imperial cargo pilot. He leaves the Empire to join the rebels.
- Jiang Wen plays Baze Malbus: A close friend of Chirrut Îmwe. He is a rebel warrior and mercenary.
- Forest Whitaker plays Saw Gerrera: A veteran of the Clone Wars. He is a friend of Jyn's family and helped raise her.
Other familiar characters appear in the film. Jimmy Smits plays Bail Organa. Genevieve O'Reilly plays Mon Mothma. Anthony Daniels is C-3PO. Jimmy Vee is R2-D2. James Earl Jones is the voice of Darth Vader. Guy Henry plays Grand Moff Tarkin. His face was digitally changed to look like the original actor, Peter Cushing. Ingvild Deila plays Princess Leia Organa. Her face was digitally changed to look like Carrie Fisher.
How the Movie Was Made
Getting Started
The idea for Rogue One came from John Knoll in 2003. He was a visual effects supervisor for the Star Wars prequel movies. He thought of a story about stealing the Death Star plans. In 2014, Disney announced that Gareth Edwards would direct the film. Gary Whitta wrote the first script. Later, Chris Weitz continued to develop the script. The movie's title, Rogue One, was officially announced in March 2015.
Edwards wanted the movie to feel like a real war film. He said it would show the "reality of war." He originally thought the main characters would survive. But the producers decided on a more tragic ending. This ending was filmed instead.
In 2016, the film had extra filming sessions. Tony Gilroy helped write new scenes and directed some of these reshoots. He was given credit for the screenplay along with Chris Weitz.
Choosing the Actors
In January 2015, many actresses were considered for the main role. Felicity Jones was chosen to play Jyn Erso in March 2015. Ben Mendelsohn was considered for a lead role. Riz Ahmed and Diego Luna also joined the cast. Forest Whitaker was cast in June 2015. James Earl Jones was confirmed to return as the voice of Darth Vader in June 2016.
Filming Locations
Filming started at Pinewood Studios in England on August 8, 2015. Large sets were built there. The movie was shot using special cameras for a very detailed look.
Filming also took place in many different countries. In Iceland, scenes were shot in volcanic areas and mountains. These locations were used for Jyn's home planet, Lah'mu, and the Imperial lab on Eadu. The islands of Gan and Baresdhoo in the Maldives were used for the tropical planet Scarif. Wadi Rum in Jordan and the fortress of Masada in Israel were used for the moon Jedha. The London Underground's Canary Wharf tube station was used for a chase scene inside an Imperial base. This filming happened at night when the station was closed.
The movie's budget was estimated to be between $200 million and $280.2 million.
Visual Effects
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) created the amazing visual effects for the film. They used CGI to bring back characters like Peter Cushing's Grand Moff Tarkin. They used digital effects to put Cushing's face onto actor Guy Henry. Lucasfilm got permission from Cushing's family to do this. They studied old footage of Cushing to make it look very real.
A similar process was used for Princess Leia. Carrie Fisher's younger appearance was put onto the face of actress Ingvild Deila. Old audio of Fisher saying "hope" was used for Leia's line.
Music of Rogue One
Michael Giacchino composed the music for Rogue One. He had only about four and a half weeks to create the entire score. This was right after he finished working on another movie, Doctor Strange. Giacchino included some of John Williams' famous Star Wars themes in his music. The official soundtrack was released on December 16, 2016.
Promoting the Movie
How Rogue One Was Advertised
The first teaser trailer for Rogue One was released on April 7, 2016. Reviewers liked how it showed strong female characters. Many noted how faithful the film looked to the original Star Wars movies. The trailer was viewed almost 30 million times in its first 29 hours.
In June 2016, Rogue One was promoted at a Star Wars event in London. A new poster was shown, featuring a battle on the planet Scarif. A second teaser trailer was also shown. This trailer revealed new locations like Jedha and Scarif. The most exciting part was the appearance of Darth Vader at the end. This trailer was later shown publicly during the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Another trailer in October 2016 focused more on Jyn Erso's relationship with her father, Galen. The movie's publicity tour started in Mexico in November 2016. In Asia, Disney focused on promoting Donnie Yen, who played Chirrut Îmwe.
Books and Comics
A book called Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel was released in November 2016. It tells a story that happened before the movie. The official book version of the film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, was released in December 2016.
Later, two more books were published in May 2017. Star Wars: Rebel Rising explains what happened to Jyn Erso after her mother died. Star Wars: Guardians of the Whills tells more about Chirrut and Baze.
Marvel Comics also made a six-part comic book series based on the film. It included some extra content.
Video Games
A downloadable expansion pack for the video game Star Wars Battlefront (2015) was released in December 2016. It was called Rogue One: Scarif. It added new game modes and a map based on the planet Scarif. Jyn Erso and Orson Krennic became playable characters. A free update for Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) was released in April 2020. It added another Scarif map and other Rogue One content.
Movie Release
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Rogue One first showed at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles on December 10, 2016. It was released in some European countries on December 14, 2016. It came out in North America on December 16, and in China on January 6, 2017.
The movie was released for home viewing on digital platforms on March 24, 2017. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 4, 2017. It earned $81.1 million from home media sales. It was one of the best-selling titles of 2017.
In August 2022, Rogue One was re-released in over 150 IMAX theaters. This was to promote the new Andor TV series. The re-release included a special preview of the series.
TV Series
A live-action prequel TV series was announced on November 8, 2018. It is called Andor. The series takes place five years before Rogue One. It focuses on Cassian Andor, with Diego Luna playing the role again. The first season came out on September 21, 2022. It showed Cassian's early involvement in the Rebellion. The second and final season was released on April 22, 2025. Its last episode came out on May 13, 2025.
See also
In Spanish: Rogue One: una historia de Star Wars para niños
