Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, or simply Rogue One, is an upcoming American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz, from an idea by visual effects supervisor John Knoll. It will be the first film in the Star Wars Anthology series, a collection of stand-alone stories set in the Star Wars universe, and will star Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, and Alan Tudyk. Set shortly before the events of Star Wars (1977), the story will center on a group of Rebel spies on a mission to steal the plans for the Empire's new weapon, the Death Star.