Some of Those Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Reshoot Rumors Are Bantha Fodder

Earlier this week, we wrote about a report, originated by Page Six, that Disney execs had ordered ‘extensive’ reshoots of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story this summer. According to Page Six’s unnamed Hollywood source, “The execs at Disney are not happy with the movie, and Rogue One will have to go back into four weeks of expensive reshoots in July.”

The source went on to say, “Gareth’s work on the first ‘Godzilla’ shows he can handle a big studio blockbuster. But ‘Rogue One’ has fallen short of what J.J. Abrams did with ‘Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.’ So Disney has ordered reshoots.”

Page Six isn’t always the most reliable publication, but as /Film points out, they do seem to have fairly trustworthy Star Wars sources (they were the first place to announce Alden Ehrenreich had been cast as young Han Solo). Rogue One‘s Donnie Yen also confirmed recently that he’ll be heading back to London for more photography, so it seems reshoots of some kind are taking place. But reshoots themselves aren’t really a cause for concern—most blockbuster movies set aside time and money in anticipation of reshooting some things—the question is just whether, as Page Six initially reported, the additional filming is because Disney is “in a panic” over Rogue One.

Then, yesterday, Making Star Wars shared some information they claim they were told by “a few” Rogue One crew members.

Some crew initially heard J.J. Abrams was supervising the reshoots.
Gareth Edwards is doing the reshoots himself but with a partner, Christopher McQuarrie.
Christopher McQuarrie, the final writer on Rogue One will be working extensively with Edwards onset to make sure they’re on the “same page” with the most recent draft of the film.
Christopher McQuarrie’s draft of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was considered superior to the film they shot previously.
It was not Edwards’ fault as McQuarrie’s draft wasn’t completed when much of the film was shot and revisions kept coming in that made the film feel uneven.
32 sets have been recreated for the reshoot.
The crew expects they are reshooting 40% of the film.
They are working 6 days a week for 8 weeks.

But Christopher McQuarrie himself says those reports are nonsense. Speaking to /Film, the writer/director (Mission: Impossble-Rogue Nation) explained:

If there are any reshoots on Rogue One, I’m not supervising them. For any outlet to say so is not only wrong, it’s irresponsible. Gareth Edwards is a talented filmmaker who deserves the benefit of the doubt. Making a film – let alone a Star Wars chapter – is hard enough without the internet trying to deliberately downgrade one’s years of hard work. Who does that even serve? Let him make his movie in peace.

Just another reminder to take all this ‘Disney execs are panicked about Rogue One!’ news with a Death Star-sized grain of salt.

Personally, I’m burnt out on speculation about what’s going on with Rogue One. Everything we’ve heard about the possible reshoots is so vague and varying that the rumors could inspire endless debate: is Disney afraid of taking creative risks? Does the film industry not realize that audiences are actually attracted to innovation? Was Gareth Edwards a poor choice for director? Is Disney worried that the movie won’t appeal enough to male fans? Is life a never-ending string of disappointments and defeats until we die? Etc.

But those debates become less meaningful when you consider that we don’t actually have any idea what’s happening with Rogue One right now, and maybe that’s okay. Maybe we don’t need to know how this space sausage is being made. Once the film is out, we’ll be able to have these conversations from a more specific and meaningful place, but right now, all this concern about Rogue One reshoots just feels like horseshit to me, too.

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Carolyn Cox