The film "Rogue One: A Star Wars story" has made over a billion dollar at the global box office on its 39th day in cinemas. The film crosses the billion mark becoming one of the only four films to do so in 2016, following Captain America: Civil War ($1.153 billion), Finding Dory ($1.028 billion) and Zootopia ($1.024). All four films were created by Disney.
Mexican actor Diego Luna - who plays Cassian Andor in the latest installment of the legendary sci-fi franchise, took to Twitter to share the story of a viewer who took his Mexican father to see the movie - and who was deeply moved by the actor not abandoning his Mexican roots.
"I took my father to see Rogue One today," wrote the fan. "I've wanted to take him for a while. I wanted my Mexican father, with his thick Mexican accent, to experience what it was like to see a hero in a blockbuster film speak the way he does. And although I wasn't sure if it was going to resonate with him, I took him anyway. When Diego Luna's character came onscreen and started speaking, my dad nudged me and said, ‘He has a heavy accent.‘ I was like, ‘Yup.'"
"When the film was over and we were walking to the car, he turns to me and says, "did you notice that he had an accent?" And I said, "Yeah dad, just like yours." Then my dad asked me if the film had made a lot of money. I told him it was the second highest grossing film of 2016 despite it only being out for 18 days in 2016 (since new year just came around). He then asked me if people liked the film, I told him that it had a huge following online and great reviews. He then asked me why Diego Luna hadn't changed his accent and I told him that Diego has openly talked about keeping his accent and how proud he is of it. And my dad was silent for a while and how proud he is of it. And my dad was silent for a while and then he said, "And he was a main character." And I said, "He was." And my dad was so happy."
He added: "As we drove home he started telling me about other Mexican actors that he thinks should be in movies in America. Representation matters."