'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' continues the adventures of a vast world left behind by George Lucas. Directed by Gareth Edwards, it's set to hit theaters in December with an all new cast, but so far no-one is willing to give too much away.

Gareth EdwardsGareth Edwards talks 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'

The cast and crew of the new movie opened up a little about what to expect from the next 'Star Wars' adventure, as audiences are left wondering if it has any place in the forthcoming 'Han Solo' flick or the eagerly anticipated 'Star Wars: Episode VIII'. What we do know is that you've never seen any of these characters before, so franchise newcomers will be just as unfamiliar as veteran fans.

'The pressure's so high. We're making a film that's touching my favourite movie of all time', said director Edwards. 'But then if you're too respectful of it that you daren't do anything new or different or take a risk, then what are you bringing to the table?'

Watch behind the scenes footage of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story':


 

Producer Kathleen Kennedy expressed a similar sentiment at Star Wars Celebration Europe last week. 'We're making 'Rogue One' which happens to be leading into 'New Hope'', she said. 'What we're trying to do with this 'Star Wars' story is to step outside of the sagas and the episode stories a bit, to take some risks with how we're cinematically approaching these movies and the fact that we're bringing all new characters into these stories, it is a bit of a risk when people have grown to expect certain things.'

Riz Ahmed, who plays a character called Bodhi Rook in the movie, elaborates on the 'New Hope' connection. ''Rogue One' is a film that's inspired by just one of the lines in the opening crawl, the opening text of Episode IV 'A New Hope'', he says. 'It's about a group of rebels who get together to try and steal the plans to the Deathstar.'

And there's no R2-D2, C-3PO BB-8 in 'Rogue One' - instead, it introduces an all new droid played by Alan Tudyk from 'Suburgatory'. 'K-2SO is a droid. He was a former security droid for the Empire and he was reprogrammed by Cassian, who is Diego Luna's character; Captain Andor. And so he is his droid and he is devoted to Cassian', he explains.

'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' is set to hit US theaters on December 16th 2016.