At this point, it is impossible not to callStar Wars: Rogue Onea success. The movie has been a big hit with fans and critics and has made Disney plenty of money, so it is safe to say pretty much everyone involved is happy with the results. There was some concern heading into the movie, though, because several months before the release some fairly significant reshoots took place. Now, editorsJohn GilroyandColin Goudiehave opened up about some of what was added during those reshoots.
Speaking withYahoo! Movies, the editors ofRogue One: A Star Wars Storytalked quite a bit about their work on the movie and in the process, shed some light on what was done during those nowinfamous reshoots.John Gilroy, brother of directorTony Gilroywho was brought on to help with the reshoots, discussed some of the story changes and some of what was added. Here is what he had to say.
“Thestory was reconceptualizedto some degree, there were scenes that were added at the beginning and fleshed out. We wanted to make more of the other characters, like Cassian’s character, and Bodhi’s character. The scene with Cassian’s introduction with the spy, Bodhi traipsing through Jedha on his way to see Saw, these are things that were added. Also Jyn, how we set her up and her escape from the transporter, that was all done to set up the story better.”
Most of the scenesJohn Gilroybrought up had to do with giving some insight into a few of the many new characters that were introduced inRogue One. Specifically looking at the scene with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), that was a very defining moment not only for him, but for the dirty side of the Rebellion, which we hadn’t really ever seen prior to this movie. Spoilers It was incredibly brutal when Cassian killed his spy buddy for the “greater good” and was something that came around in the third act of the movie. Without that scene, much of what happened later would have lost some meaning and weight.
So it looks like, at least with what was named specifically, a lot of what was added toRogue One: A Star Wars Storywas to help flesh stuff out character stuff, not because directorGareth Edwardsbotched anything during the initial shoot. Given the reshoots, there has been some curiosity about how much changed and if there is another cut of the movie that exists somewhere. EditorColin Goudieassured Yahoo! that the cut of the movie that exists is really the only cut ofStar Wars: Rogue One. Here is what he had to say when discussing changes between the rough assembly cut of the movie versus the final cut.
“It was not much longer than the finished film. I think the first assembly was not far off actual release length. Maybe 10 minutes longer? I genuinely can’t remember because that was nearly a year ago now. There’s nomythical four hour cut, it doesn’t exist.”
Outside of what is being said by the editors of the movie, it was very apparent to anyone who sawStar Wars: Rogue Onethat scenes had been cut and things had been changed. There were a ton of shots from the trailers that never made it into the movie, so it is clear that beyond what is being said here, some (perhaps a lot) was reworked. Still, the end result seems to be something that most fans liked and maybe, more importantly, Disney and Lucasfilm are happy with. With a take of nearly $800 million at the box office already,Star Wars: Rogue Onecould encourage the studio to take more risks withStar Warsmovies in the future, which is something fans of the franchise will probably welcome with open arms.
