'Star Wars: Rogue One' Cast Update: No Deal Has Been Made Yet, Says Rumored Spinoff Actor Ben Mendelsohn; Film To Premiere December 16, 2016

By Staff Writer

Jun 22 2015, 07:01 AM EDT

Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn's name has already been linked several times to Gareth Edwards' "Star Wars: Rogue One", the first of the new standalone "Star Wars" flick that is due December 2016. However, the long-running talks of his inclusion to the highly anticipated film are still considered nothing more than mere rumors as no deal has been made yet with the "Bloodline" star.

Early reports have already suggested that Ben Mendelsohn is going to board the upcoming "Star Wars: Rogue One" as the film's villain and the 46-year-old welcomed the rumor but never claimed it to be official. According to Uproxx, Lucasfilm had been frequently announcing the additions to its cast members but Mendelsohn's name has never been mentioned.

Despite this, the actor still expressed his interest to do a role in the forthcoming movie. In an interview with Deadline, he mentioned that he is also waiting for a confirmation. "I'm waiting for them to call me and say, "Hey, here's the start date," but you know, none of that's yet taken place, but you know I'd be very happy to do it, let's put it that way," he said.

As of now, Lucasfilm and Disney have only locked Academy Award-winners Felicity Jones ("The Theory of Everything", "Like Crazy") and Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland", "Taken 3") for a role in the movie, as well as Riz Ahmed ("Nightcrawler", "The Reluctant"), Diego Luna ("Milk", "The Book of Life"), and Sam Claflin ("The Hunger Games: Catching Fire", "Snow White and the Huntsman").

According to Digital Trends, "Star Wars: Rogue One" will be helmed by Gareth Edwards of "Monsters and Godzilla" based on a screenplay co-written by veteran Star Wars visual-effects supervisor John Knoll, "The Golden Compass" and "About a Boy" screenwriter Chris Weitz, and "The Book of Eli" screenwriter Gary Whitta. Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat ("The Grand Budapest Hotel", " The King's Speech") will provide the score for the upcoming flick.

Edwards' upcoming flick will be the first of numerous spinoff films set in the Star Wars universe and is currently the only one with a confirmed title and plot information. The second spinoff is reportedly a Bobba Fett story with no confirmation yet from Disney.

"Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One" will reportedly commence its production in UK at Pinewood Studios and is slated to hit the big screen December 16, next year.