Felicity Jones beats out Canadian Tatiana Maslany for Star Wars lead, report
The Oscar-nominated U.K. actress also beat off competition from U.S. actress Rooney Mara
Felicity Jones will star in a new Star Wars spin-off, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter.
The British actress, who has been nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Stephen Hawking's first wife in The Theory of Everything, reportedly beat out Canadian Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actress Rooney Mara for the part.
No formal casting announcements have been made, but all three actresses were said to have been in Los Angeles last week testing for the film. Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul and Zero Dark Thirty actor Edgar Ramirez are said to be contenders for the male lead.
British filmmaker Gareth Edwards (Godzilla and Monsters) is set to direct.
Secretive Star Wars spin-off
Lucasfilm has released few details about the Star Wars spin-off film, other than it is slated to be released on Dec. 16, 2016.
The yet to be named movie is one of two Star Wars stand-alone films that the studio has up its sleeve.
Fans are already counting down the days to the release of the franchise's next instalment, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, due out on Dec. 18, 2015.
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Disney, Lucasfilm and representatives for Maslany have not commented on the casting process for the Edwards project.