Following the cover reveal and list of character descriptions this morning, EW has one more Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ace up its sleeve. They have revealed that Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, The Butler) is playing Saw Gerrera in the new film. Fans will best remember Gerrera from “The Clone Wars” series (voiced by Andrew Kishino), where he fought alongside a pre-Darth Anakin Skywalker on the planet Onderon. You can check out a new portrait of Saw Gerrera along with other Rogue One characters in the gallery below!
“Consider him kind of a battered veteran who leads a band of Rebel extremists,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy stated. “He’s on the fringe of the Rebel Alliance. Even [they] are a little concerned about him.”
While Saw may be an ally to the Rebel squad in Rogue One, he’s not really one of them, as his partisans have been accused of terrorist tactics.
“He’s off on his own,” adds Kennedy.
Lucasfilm previously announced a Rogue One: A Star Wars Story panel on Friday, July 15 for the upcoming Star Wars Celebration that will feature director Gareth Edwards and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, along with “some special guests.” Stay tuned for our coverage straight from the ExCeL London Exhibition Centre as we learn even more about the first standalone Star Wars!
Rogue One tells the story of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans to the dreaded Death Star. Felicity Jones leads the cast alongside Mads Mikklesen, Diego Luna (Milk, Killing Them Softly), Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline, Mississippi Grind), Donnie Yen (Ip Man, Blade II), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly, Devils on the Doorstep), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Alan Tudyk (Firefly) who plays a performance-capture character in the film, and Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler, Four Lions).
John Knoll, the Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor who currently serves as chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic, is executive producing the film 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 with John Swartz (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) attached to co-produce. It was also recently confirmed that Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The King’s Speech) will be providing the score.
Directed by Gareth Edwards, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set for release on December 16, 2016.
