Check Out the First Photo From 'Star Wars: Rogue One'

Riz Ahmed, Diego Luna, Felicity Jones, Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen from ‘Star Wars: Rogue One’

The Force just got a little bit stronger.

At Disney’s D23 celebration on Saturday, the studio revealed the first picture from Rogue One, the initial spin-off film from the newly relaunched franchise. The movie — which takes place before the events of 1977′s Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, and focuses on a group of resistance fighters who come together to steal plans for the dreaded Death Star — also confirmed its cast. It includes Oscar-nominated The Theory of Everything star Felicity Jones; Oscar winner Forest Whittaker; Milk’s Diego Luna; Emmy-nominated Bloodline star Ben Mendelsohn; Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen; Let the Bullets Fly’s Jiang Wen; Hannibal’s Mads Mikkelsen; Nightcrawler star Riz Ahmed; and Firefly alum Alan Tudyk. The movie will be directed by Gareth Edwards, who helmed last year’s Godzilla.

“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,” producer Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. “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.”

Rogue One will be released Dec. 16, 2016.