"Star Wars: Rogue One" is scheduled to release on December 14, 2016, and many of the fans were delighted by the cast during its earliest official announcement. The legendary Hong Kong action star, Donnie Yen, virtually came up with the idea of portraying a blind Jedi-like mystic warrior.
It turns out that Donnie Yen is more than just a co-star in this ambitious project. He has been afforded with a great deal of latitude by the filmmakers considering how his inputs were enforced.
Comic Book reports that Donnie Yen's background as a certified traditional martial arts master greatly influenced the overall design of Chirrut Imwe. Drawing some allusions to a 'strong relationship between blindness and spiritual wisdom', Donnie Yen has conjured a 'Force-attuned warrior monk' in an era where the Jedi are practically absent.
Ironically, Donnie Yen did not ask to be in this project. In fact, an article published by AV Club states that this is one of the many Hollywood roles he did not immediately accept.
Donnie Yen had some reservations about joining the production until his children won him over. It is revealed that his kids are huge "Star Wars" fans - hence, doing it out of love.
It pays to mention that "Star Wars: Rogue One" deviates from some of the franchise's long established traditions. This is one of the major "Star Wars" productions (if not the only) which do not feature the 'iconic narrative crawl' in its introductory scene.
This film is set in a timeline after Darth Vader's rise to power and before Luke Skywalker's birth. Fragmented pockets of galactic resistance slowly build a coalition at the time when the total suppression of the Jedi Order is at its apex. Whoever says one cannot imagine a "Star Wars" film without a Jedi' is simply not trying hard enough.
