Star Wars: Rogue One takes place at the same time as Rebels, may “nod” to it

The hybrid fan ritual/corporate marketing seminar known as Celebration continues to dribble out tidbits of juicy Star Wars information, including a panel on Sunday focused on Godzilla director Gareth Edwards and his upcoming standalone movie, now with the official title Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One. (Chronicle director Josh Trank, who’s been set to direct a second standalone Star Wars film, was also scheduled, but didn’t appear.) The panel, which included producer Kathleen Kennedy and Industrial Light And Magic’s John Knoll, revealed both the movie’s basic plot, and, more importantly for Star Wars fans fatally addicted to continuity and crossovers, how it might interact with other entries in the franchise.
Rogue One’s story will center on the era between Episode III and Episode IV, after the purge of the Jedi by Emperor Palpatine and his henchman, Sad Black Plastic Frankenstein. The absence of the Jedi leaves a crew of non-powered rebellious individuals, including The Theory Of Everything star Felicity Jones, to take up the cause and steal the plans for the Empire’s soon-to-be-deployed super weapon, the Death Star. Of course, as fans of the series will know, many Bothans died to bring the Rebel Alliance said information, so Rogue One may be primed to seize the coveted Guinness World Record for “Onscreen Bothan Deaths,” currently held jointly at zero by all existing films.