The Danish actor's involvement in the sci-fi franchise's side-project was announced at the Disney D23 Expo on Saturday (15Aug15), when a video message from Rogue One director Gareth Edwards was played for fans at the California event.

In the footage, Edwards revealed Mikkelsen, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Alan Tudyk and Ben Mendelsohn are all onboard for the film, joining a cast which already includes Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Forest Whitaker and Riz Ahmed.

Sherlock star Jonathan Aris was recently rumoured to have landed a role in the film, but he was not among the new additions announced over the weekend.

The first stand-alone spin-off in the Star Wars movie series will follow a group of resistance fighters who join forces to steal plans to the original Death Star.

A new statement released by Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy reads: "Rogue One takes place before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope and will be a departure from the saga films but have elements that are familiar to the Star Wars universe. It goes into new territory, exploring the galactic struggle from a ground-war perspective while maintaining that essential Star Wars feel that fans have come to know.

"Gareth is such an innovative director and I'm so excited to be working with him and the extraordinary ensemble cast he's selected for Rogue One."

Principal photography for Star Wars: Rogue One is already underway, ahead of its planned December, 2016 release.