While the focus is on the monster that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is, there’s also some growing anticipation with the first spin-off film with Star Wars: Rogue One. It’s unlikely that there will be the same kind of box office success, and hopes for it are misguided to be honest, but what we should be getting is a pretty interesting film. With it working through the process now, Donnie Yen is out talking about Ip Man 3 and answered a few questions about his role in Rogue One:
Explaining that his children are fans of Star Wars, Yen says about his Rogue One role: “I am very proud to be the first Chinese actor cast in Rogue One. It was a good and benevolent character.” Beyond that, Yen said he was not allowed to say more about his character in the film.
But he told THR that he was like a kid in a candy store while filming. “I felt like I was in a theme park everyday when shooting Rogue One in Pinewood Studios in Britain,” he said. “I have learned and experienced a lot.”
Ip Man 3 is opening in Hong Kong a week after Star Wars: The Force Awakens bowed at cinemas. But Yen wasn’t concerned about the competition: “When Star Wars succeeds at the box office, I succeed, because I’m now part of the family. Other than that, I feel like there should be options for the audience. I will definitely go see Star Wars, but I’m even more determined to go see Ip Man 3,” Yen said, laughing.
“Rogue One takes place before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope and will be a departure from the saga films but have elements that are familiar to the Star Wars universe,” said Kathleen Kennedy earlier this year. “It goes into new territory, exploring the galactic struggle from a ground-war perspective while maintaining that essential Star Wars feel that fans have come to know. Gareth is such an innovative director and I’m so excited to be working with him and the extraordinary ensemble cast he’s selected for ‘Rogue One.’”
Set to debut on December 16th, 2016, Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One is directed by Gareth Edwards based on a screenplay by Chris Weitz. The film stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, and Riz Ahmed.
Plot concept: A band of resistance fighters unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans.
[Source: THR]