45 Surprising Rogue One Facts: A Space Opera Worth Watching

For true Star Wars fans, the movie 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' is something that has changed everyone's perspective about the movie universe.

'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' is an American space opera movie released in 2016 and it was directed by Gareth Edwards. Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy were on the screenplay, while John Knoll and Gary Whitta wrote the story.

Did you know Rogue One is the first Star Wars movie in which there is no mention of Skywalker? Even though the movie establishes the fact that the Death Star is able to travel through hyperspace, in the movie, the Death Star is not seen within, entering, or leaving hyperspace. Rogue One is also the first movie in the Star Wars universe to use on-screen captions to introduce locations. Unlike other Star Wars films, this is the first one where John Williams has not made the score. The story of the movie follows an orphaned delinquent named Jyn Erso who gets caught up in the Rebel Alliance after it is found that her father had made the Death Star.

Cast

Here is the list of cast members of the film.

The main characters are played by Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Diego Luna, Mads Mikkelsen, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, Alan Tudyk, and Forest Whitaker.

Felicity Jones plays Jyn Erso in the movie.

Beau Gadsdon and Dolly Gadsdon were cast as younger Jyn.

Diego Luna plays Cassian Andor.

Ben Mendelsohn plays Orson Krennic.

Donnie Yen plays Chirrut Îmwe.

Mads Mikkelsen plays Galen Erso.

Alan Tudyk plays the voice and motion capture of K-2SO.

Riz Ahmed plays Bodhi Rook.

Jiang Wen plays Baze Malbus.

Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera.

Jimmy Smits, Genevieve O'Reilly, Anthony Daniels, and Jimmy Vee play Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, C-3PO, and R2-D2, respectively, in the movie. They were also seen in previous Star Wars films.

James Earl Jones voiced Darth Vader. He has also portrayed the character in other movies. Spencer Wilding and Daniel Naprous play the character in the movie in different scenes.

Princess Leia Organa and Grand Moff Tarkin are played by Ingvild Deila and Guy Henry, respectively.

Diego Luna who plays Cassian Andor in the Star Wars movie is a versatile actor who had to improvise the slap from K2-SO across Cassian’s face on Jedha.

The line from Saw Gerrera, "What will you become?", was used in the trailer of the movie. The line was improvised by Forest Whitaker. Saw Gerrera first appeared in the TV series named 'Star Wars: Clone Wars'.

Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, and Alan Tudyk stayed together on a boat during the filming of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' in the Maldives.

In the movie, Captain Cassian Andor says, "Punch it!" to K2-SO. Han Solo in the original movie says, "Okay, punch it Chewie.".

There are also many other actors in the Star Wars movie.

Direction & Filming

Produced by a subsidiary of Walt Disney, Lucasfilm, 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' was directed by Gareth Edwards.

This movie is the first installment of the anthology series by Star Wars.

The story is set before the events that panned out in the original Star Wars movie. It follows a rebel alliance that goes on a mission to steal the plans of the Galactic Empire’s superweapon called the Death Star.

The rebel base located in Yavin IV has many full-sized cardboard cutouts of Y-Wing and X-Wings fighters. The producers did the same thing as the original Star Wars movie named 'Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope'. The technique fills out the hanger later.

The team also put a lot of easter eggs in the movie. You will see a jug of blue milk in Lyra's kitchen during the hasty packing scene from Jyn. Blue milk was first seen in Aunt Beru's kitchen in 'Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope'. The scene was when Uncle Owen advised Luke to keep away from Mr. Kenobi.

George Lucas loved the music of the movie so much that the director of the movie tweeted about it.

'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' is the first movie among Star Wars films to have dialogues in the closing scene of the movie.

The name of the planet Scarif was made up by Gareth Edwards. He took inspiration from an event in his real life. He ordered a coffee in Starbucks, which is famously known for writing the name of its customers on the cups. Starbucks misspelled Gareth's name as Scareth, which he used as inspiration to name the planet, Scarif.

Most of the scenes of the movie were shot at Pinewood Studios near Wembley. This is the same place where actor Riz Ahmed was brought up. He lived at his parents' house during the shooting days.

The producers actually sent 'Rogue One' to the theatres under the name Los Alamos.

Wobani is the name of the planet where Jyn Erso is imprisoned at the start of the film. This is in reference to Obi-Wan as his name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. It is an anagram.

'Rogue One' is the first Star Wars movie where Darth Vader uses the word 'choke'.

'Rogue One' is also the first movie in the franchise where the title of the film is used as a call sign by the characters.

There is an easter egg in the movie where the Ghost ship is seen in the end moments of the space battle above planet Scarif. This is in reference to the series.

Writing credits for the movie go to John Knoll and Gary Whitta for the story and Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy for the screenplay.

The story is based on characters made by George Lucas.

Michael Giacchino and John Williams are credited for the music.

Greig Fraser is the director of photography.

John Gilroy, Jabez Olssen, and Colin Goudie are the editors.

Casting was done by Jina Jay.

Glyn Dillon and David Crossman were the costume designers for the film.

Reviews

The movie had a profit of $1 billion worldwide and got rave reviews too.

'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' became the 24th highest-grossing movie of all time and the second highest-grossing movie of 2016.

'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' also won two nominations at the Academy Awards for Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects.

The appearance of Darth Vader made the Star Wars movie a lot better for hardcore fans. In fact, Darth Vader's appearance in the movie is made the same as in the original Star Wars movies. In the later movies of the Star Wars universe, Darth Vader's chest plate remains uncovered.

The events of Rogue One happened just a few days before the original Star Wars film, and the costume designers of the movie made sure Darth Vader looked the part.

Critics have rated the film quite well, with a Rotten Tomato score of 84% and an IMDb rating of 7.8.

It is considered one of the best movies in the franchise. For fans of the series, it features all-new likable characters and the same action from the other movies. The fresh story is also commendable as it takes a different direction from the regular Star Wars movies.

Comics & Video Games

There have been comics and video game expansions based on the movie.

Marvel Comics published 'Star Wars: Rogue One Adaptation', a six-issue comic book series based on the 2016 film 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'. It was illustrated by Emilio Laiso and written by Jody Houser.

The character named Jyn Erso in the movie is thought to be a reference to a character in the video game named 'Star Wars: Dark Forces'. The character's name is Jan Ors. The game's first mission is to recover the plans to the Death Star by Ors and Kyle Katarn.

In the video game called 'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic', the planet Rakata Prime appeared. The movie acknowledges it with the Citadel and planet Scarif, where Imperial data is stored.

'Star Wars™ Battlefront™ Rogue One: Scarif' is a digital expansion pack to the infamous 'Star Wars™ Battlefront™ Season Pass' game.

FAQs

Why is Rogue One amazing?

A: Rogue One takes the story of Star Wars and creates its own universe with new characters.

Why is it called Rogue One?

A: It is a military call sign.

Did anyone from Rogue One survive?

A: No one from Rogue One survived the blast.

Does Rogue One have Jedi?

A: There were no Jedi in the movie.

What happened to everyone in Rogue One?

A: Everyone dies at the end.

Where was the Rogue One beach scene filmed?

A: It was filmed at Laamu Atoll, South Maldives.