Beijinger Jiang Wen to Appear in 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'

Perhaps the Beijingiest of all Beijingers, actor and director Jiang Wen will appear in the upcoming Star Wars film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, due out in December, based on a trailer released by Disney late Thursday.

Jiang gets about two seconds of screentime in the Rogue One trailer, whereas Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen gets a few more seconds and even a line or two. Jiang can be seen at about the 1:18 mark in the one-minute, thirty-eight second trailer.

Jiang's involvement in Rogue One, which has been an open secret in China film circles for months, is now confirmed and interest will only grow as more trailers released and the Disney's publicity machine gets into gear. Whereas Star Wars: The Force Awakens was devoid of any Chinese actors of note, Rogue One isn't missing the opportunity to attract more of a China audience this time around.

The Red Sorghum actor and director of Let the Bullets Fly plays a freedom fighter who is a weapons specialist, according to one report. Not much else is known yet about the 52-year-old's role yet.

Rogue One is set for a December release. It's not a guaranteed hit, even with Jiang and Yen. The film, which stars Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, and Forrest Whittaker, is a parallel prequel to the original Star Wars film (Episode IV) released in 1977, which sheds light on the development of the rebellion against the Empire. While Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuted well in China, its performance fell off quickly after its initial release, and it never challenged earlier Chinese box office titans like Mermaid or Transformers in any meaningful way.

View the trailer here on YouTube or here on Youku.

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