Rogue One won't have a sequel however successful it is

'Rogue Two' already exists and it's directed by George Lucas

In this day and age of cinema, it's almost standard practice to assume that any successful film will be granted a sequel.

Rogue One - the first of three planned Star Wars prequels - will be an exception to that rule; Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has assured that however successful the film will be, the prequel will not be getting a follow-up.

In an interview with Empire, Kennedy and visual effects artist John Knoll stated that the prequel was always designed as a standalone film and this won't change despite its probable worldwide success.

Upon retrospect, this is an understandable decision - in many respects, the film already has a sequel in A New Hope, the film that kicked off the Star Wars behemoth back in 1977.

What's most notable is how rare this notion will be going into the cinema - when you sit down to watch Rogue One, you can prepare to be marveled at a film that, as director Gareth Edwards put it, "very definitely [has] a beginning, middle and end."

A brand new TV spot for the film has hinted at the return of yet another villainous character alongside Darth Vader who can be seen in the most recent full trailer which fans suspect may give away the film's biggest secret.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna and Forrest Whitaker among others, will be released 16 December.