Originally published November 30, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
Despite the high likelihood of Disney and Lucasfilm’s first Star Wars Anthology film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, becoming a huge hit when it flies into theaters next month, no matter what kind of box office numbers it produces, the film certainly won’t be getting a sequel.
That’s right, according to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, visual effects supervisor John Knoll and director Gareth Edwards in an interview with Empire Magazine (courtesy of Slash Film), Rogue Two, as Kennedy jokingly called it, will never happen.
Knoll, who originally conceived the idea for the movie, said that Rogue One was always supposed to be a self-contained entry in the Star Wars universe. Edwards even added that if there were to be a sequel it would “be directed by George Lucas,” referring to Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, which Rogue One almost directly precedes in the timeline of galactic history.
While the Rogue One news was expected, there hasn’t been any word on whether or not 2018’s Han Solo movie will be kicking off a series or standing on its own; for that film, Disney is undoubtedly dealing with more sequel-friendly content.
From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set for release on December 15th in the UK and December 16th in the States, with a cast that includes Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Diego Luna (Milk), Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Alan Tudyk (Con Man), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), Genevieve O’Reilly (Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith), Jimmy Smits (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones), James Earl Jones (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope), Valene Kane (The Fall), Alistair Petrie (The Night Manager), Warwick Davis (Star Wars: Episode IV – Return of the Jedi) and Jonathan Aris (Sherlock).
