First images from the set of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story emerge

Filming on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first of many planned Star Wars Anthology spin-off films began last week, and thanks to TMZ we've got our first sneak peek at the set.

The site published a number of photos taken during filming. The scene appears to take place on a beach, with photos revealing a crashed ship, rebel fighters, and dead Stormtroopers around the wreckage. The crashed ship appears to be the rebel troop transports, which was shown as concept art for the film in April. These photos, coupled with the leaked trailer and concept art from Star Wars Celebration, suggest Rogue One will feature some sort of large-scale beach invasion, but nothing is certain.

The only thing we know for certain is that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will take place before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope and will tell the story of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans to the dreaded Death Star. At Disney's D23 Expo, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said Rogue One "will be a departure from the saga films but [will] have elements that are familiar to the Star Wars universe." She added 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." 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is scheduled to hit theaters on December 16, 2016. In the meantime, we've got J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh film in the core Star Wars saga, coming in December of this year.

Check out the set photos from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in the gallery below.