Star Wars Anthologies: Rogue One (as it’s officially calling itself) has made a further addition to its already impressive cast with the news that Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker (The Last King Of Scotland, Platoon, Taken 3) will be joining the residents of A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away, according to Variety.
The nature of his role is as yet unconfirmed, with the current synopsis involving the rag-tag Rebel Alliance as they attempt to steal the plans for the Death Star. All we’ve seen so far is the brief preview trailer at Celebration, but that alone is enough to get us excited.
So too is the casting of Whitaker himself. Granted, a number of his recent roles (Repo Men, Taken 3) have been of the jobbing variety, but he’s also capable of turning in truly astonishing performances, as anyone who’s seen The Last King Of Scotland will testify.
The first Star Wars spinoff is being directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and written by Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass), John Knoll and Gary Whitta (The Book Of Eli), and will star Felicity Jones (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), Ben Mendelsohn (Lost River), Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama Tambien) and Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler).
Star Wars Anthologies: Rogue One will be released in cinemas on 16 December 2016. For more on the biggest movie news, pick up the latest issue of SciFiNow.