Gareth Edward's standalone Star Wars spinoff will be titled "Rogue One"!

More great news for Star Wars fans today as Disney announced news concerning the first spin-off film for the franchise.

Director Gareth Edward's standalone film has officially been titled Rogue One! Fans will recognize this as a connection to the famous X-Wing squadron known as Rogue Squadron. At the moment no plot details have been released for the film but actress Felicity Jones has been confirmed to be cast in the film and Bob Iger said that this film will, "explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga".

"Rogue One is the title for the first film in a unique series of big-screen adventures that explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga. Rogue One will be directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and written by Oscar nominee Chris Weitz (Cinderella, About a Boy, Antz). The first actress cast is Felicity Jones, who garnered an Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim for her performance in The Theory of Everything. The idea for the story of Rogue One came from John Knoll, an Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic. He will executive produce along with Simon Emanuel (The Dark Knight Rises, Fast & Furious 6) and Jason McGatlin (Tintin, War of the Worlds). Kathleen Kennedy and Tony To (Band of Brothers, The Pacific) are on board to produce and John Swartz (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will co-produce. The film starts shooting this summer in London and is due for release on December 16, 2016."

This is definitely exciting news and I love that they will be diving into and developing a Rogue Squadron story. Are you happy to hear the title of the spinoff film and see where Disney is looking to take this franchise?

Source: Star Wars