We've known for a while now that the first Star Wars spin-off movie would be coming out in 2016 and that it would be directed by Godzilla's Gareth Edwards from a script written by Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz, and that The Theory of Everything star Felicity Jones (pictured) was the first person cast in it. But now Disney CEO Bob Iger has revealed the title of that movie, which should send fans into a frenzy of speculation: Rogue One.
For those unfamiliar, in the Star Wars universe "rogue one" is the leader of the Rogue Squadron, an elite starfighter group in the Rebel Alliance that Luke Skywalker eventually joins. (He is Rogue One in The Empire Strikes Back, while Wedge Antilles is Rogue One in Return of the Jedi). So it's not much of a leap to think Rogue One could be a precursor to the Rogue Squadron, which would seem to back up previous rumors that the standalone movies would actually be prequels to pre-existing Star Wars stories.
One of those rumors involved a story about the rebels who initially steal the plans for the Death Star. Considering the Rogue Squadron is involved with the eventual attack(s) on the Death Star, it's also not much of a leap to think the name of the team that steals those plans could be Rogue One. Either way, we'll definitely find out what it means when the movie hits theaters on December 16, 2016, a year after Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Iger also confirmed that Rian Johnson would be directing Star Wars Episode VIII, and that it would hit theaters on May 26, 2017, just 40 years and a day after A New Hope first hit theaters.
