C2-B5

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Source: Theatrical Release  |  Production Photos - Part 3. 

Description: Despite being heavily featured in the toy marketing leading up to the release of Rogue One C2-B5 is only seen in two shot's on the finished film.

Notes: From Wookiepedia.

C2-B5 was a black-plated astromech droid in the service of the Galactic Empire. The droid was frequently subjected to memory wipes to keep it subservient, causing the astromech to have no distinctive personality. It was capable of deploying a large personal energy shield, scanning the area for hostiles, and releasing a poisonous dioxis gas.

C2-B5 was created for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the 2016 film that marks the first entry in the Star Wars Anthology Series. The droid was first seen in a behind-the-scenes reel for Rogue One that debuted during the film's panel at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016 on July 15, 2016. The character was later fully revealed in an episode of The Star Wars Show, a then-weekly digital video series by Lucasfilm, released on August 31, 2016.

According to Neal Scanlan, creature effects supervisor for Rogue One, C2-B5 was created upon the idea of reimagining R2 units while respecting the model's established characteristics. Dubbed R2-D2's "goth twin," C2-B5 only briefly appeared in Rogue One as a background character despite the droid's prominent presence in the film's marketing and merchandising. A physical model for C2-B5 was built and used for the Scarif Citadel interiors sequence, which was shot at the Canary Wharf station on the London Underground in a single night on August 16, 2015.

Notes: From Droidbuilders.uk.

Having been left to my own devices to create an Imperial Astromech for Rogue One I created what was eventually named C2-B5. I cannot find record of the name I gave it but it wasn’t that! The droid itself received much coverage for the promotion of Rogue One which later led to dissapointment once viewers saw the lack of C2-B5 in the film. Well….. Pretty much everything we shot was used in the film! The toy companies must have just been keen to release a new Astromech toy.

The first time we used him was shooting overnight at Canary Wharf Underground Station which was a fun nightshoot, waiting to decend on the platform as the last train left and convert it into a Star Wars film set. We shot through the night and then packed away and disappeared before the first train arrived in the morning! Amazing gorilla style filming on a massive scale!

The second, and only other time we shot C2-B5 was during the weekend of Star Wars Celebration at the Excel Centre in London in July 2016. The reason I mention Celebration is the footage we shot was an additional scene which was added to the end of filming. All the stages at Pinewood were in use so we shot the scene in a disused carpet warehouse literally a mile down the road from the Excel Centre.

By: Lee Towersey - October 2019

Notes: C2-B5 was also featured in the Star Wars Rogue One Rapid Fire Imperial AT-ACT playset, alongside Jyn Erso and an Imperial Shoretrooper: