The upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is one of the most anticipated films of the remaining year, and has been described as the "most real" of them all. Rogue One will be the first of the series not to focus on Force-users or Skywalkers, instead centering on Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), who joins the Rebel Alliance in their mission to steal the Death Star plans.

Star Wars fans can look forward to some decent twists in the film's story as well as a slew of new characters. Felicity Jones's Jyn Erso will be joined by Mads Mikkelsen as her father Galen, Ben Mendelsohn as Director Orson Krennic; Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe; Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera and Diego Luna as Captain Cassian Andor. Still, no Star Wars movie is complete without a scene-stealing droid, and Rogue One will also feature Firefly star Alan Tudyk in a motion-capture performance as K-2SO.

"Kaytoo" is a former Imperial droid who has been reprogrammed to serve the Rebellion, and as Tudyk has put it, has "no filter." The droid is likely to prove as memorable as the iconic C-3pO and R2-D2. And according to ComicBook.com, K-2SO will soon be available as a collectible statue from ARTFX+ and Kotobukiya.

K-2SO Statue Kotobukiya

The K-2SO figure will be one-tenth scale with "canon-compliant detailing," posable limbs and magnetic feet. The figure will retail for $79.99 and will be available in May 2017. With the fan-favorite Tudyk certain to inject a great deal of personality into the droid, K-2SO is sure to gain a following which will justify the figure's status as a collectible.

The Star Wars brand and the countless forms of merchandise it has spawned date back to the original trilogy and was arguably the origin for all subsequent blockbuster tie-ins. Disney knew perfectly well that their purchase of Lucasfilm meant acquiring the most lucrative movie merchandising line in existence and thanks to the 2015 30-years-on sequel The Force Awakens, the sale of licensed merchandise in general saw a 4.2 percent uptick around the world in 2015.

With Rogue One entering new territory for a Star Wars movie with its lack of Skywalkers or Jedi, there may be some concern that fans might not glom on to a batch of wholly new characters and actors, but not much. It remains to be seen if Rogue One will unseat The Force Awakens as the all-time highest grossing film in the franchise (not adjusting for inflation), but it will orient viewers for the series of standalone entries coming their way. The meticulously detailed collectible statues are icing on the cake.

Source: Kotobukiya, (ComicBook.com)

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