Rogue One The Deleted/Missing Scenes Thread!

Yeah it sounds like that simple question of "Why are they doing this?" wasn't clear.

Which character got that full reworking?

 

I think we have to remember that Gilroy's words are aimed at a mess he came into. There will have been points along the way when those shaping the story felt they - more or less - had the motivations covered and the story mapped out. Sometimes you know there are weaker patches, but you think that either they can be addressed on the move or in the edit, or you hope performance and direction will bring something that might not be explicit on the page, or you don't see the problem until it hits you. Because the whole process is so subjective - look at TLJ, where RJ and LFL clearly love and believe in it and their motivations and yet some see it as the equivalent of a cinematic tumour - it can be really hard to know the best way forward, or if something is working. Throw in pressurised development schedules to hit release windows, and the fact that in filmmaking people are used to operating in these conditions and it all creates an environment where this kind of mess is pretty common, and yet often (but not always) need not mean the final product is a dud. It should be that a script is developed to the best it can be, with all major creative parties in agreement and then things move forward - but by the nature of the beast (define: the best it can be) that just very rarely happens. I think it comes back to the old hotdog analogy. It's often better if you don't know what goes into the making of them.

 

Exactly. And RO is a delicious hot dog.

 

I know right? Everybody in Godzilla and R1 are pretty lifeless.

 

I'm just an outsider fanboy pleb, but it sounds like Gilroy is admitting he did much more than LFL wants to admit. The fact he easily won arbitration on writing credit suggests he contributed far more than the (from what I understand) 33% of the script the WGA needs for such credit.

Which is a far, far more comprehensive overhaul than Lucasfilm ever suggested in their press releases. But I suppose everyone but the most die hard faithful LFL fans already knew that.

 

Interesting, I remember Disney putting out a lot of fake news at the time claiming there were no problems with the production and that it was just normal reshoots.

 

Depends on who you ask. I've heard that huge amounts of the story were changed (way more than the 40% MSW reported) and I've also heard that it was more a recontextualising.

 

I'm just glad they got rid of that huge song and dance scene that was originally in there. I don't know what Edwards was thinking with that.

 

I'm inclined to buy the 40%. Gilroy supposedly added the entire beginning up to Yavin and changed the third act.

 

Before the reshoots began I was really worried, after they were finished, I wasn't worried, but had lowered expectations. Then with about a month to go I was pleasantly surprised to hear the film had come together. Whatever happened, they got things back on track in time.

 

Well obviously Gilroy is biased towards his participation. The only real way to know would be to have actual information about what was what even taking into account biased views.

It all depends on what was wanted and how that changed.

Obviously the story and general script they shot were signed off to make and that was done. One version is that they changed their mind on what they wanted.

He says he has no reverence for Star Wars whatsoever but the movie certainly did so that right there shows that the parts he had effect on didn't change that aspect that was there already. He says he looks at it like The Battle of Britain and not a Star Wars movie which underlines his admitted lack of knowledge of the movies in the first place and that actually that is exactly the kind of movie that they had set out to do in the first place.

If anything from what we can gather of the original version those aspects were toned down and it became less militaristic/mission based to a more "rogue" band of misfits vein.

 

For real...?

 

I believe the rumor that Gilroy "added the entire beginning up to Yavin" began on Reddit, and is completely unsubstantiated. Indeed, we know that can't be true for a number of reasons.

1. The outdoor scenes with Galen and Krennic, as well as young Jyn and Lyra, were shot on location in Iceland near the very beginning of principal photography. Though it seems Gilroy may have shot additional interiors for the sequence, a lot of that footage comes from Edwards.

2. The early outdoor scenes on Jedha (where Bodhi is escorted blindfolded through the desert) was shot in Jordan early on during principal photography. So those scenes are all (or mostly) Edwards.

That said, it is almost 100% confirmed that the Wobani and Ring of Kafrene bits were Gilroy's additions, and they are certainly good ones. It is also undisputed that Gilroy helped craft a very different ending than was originally in place. But more importantly, what Gilroy did was significantly restructure the narrative thrust of the film. The first Rogue One teaser implied that Rogue One was going to be about the dehumanizing consequences of war, including or especially on the Rebellion side. While some of that remains in Cassian's and Draven's arc, Gilroy injected a critical "Battle of Britain" edge into the film by focusing like a laser on the concept of heroic sacrifice without promise of reward. In that context, he re-crafted Jyn's arc, created a whole new sequence with Galen on Eadu (reinforcing that he was the ultimate sacrificial lamb/ unsung hero, hated by both sides), and re-haped the ending.

The hugely interesting thing to come out of Rogue One is how great of a filmmaker Edwards/ Gilroy is. As a team. They bring two very complementary skills to the job. Edwards is a master visual storyteller, with a great sense of scale and an inimitable cinema verite/ naturalistic style. His worlds have a great depth of field. But his narratives lack focus, and can feel listless sometimes. Gilroy brings to the table a clear sense of narrative focus and thematic consistency. Put them together and you get a beautiful film, that feels more real than any other Star Wars film, but with a coherent and satisfying narrative.

Someone recently asked me who I thought should direct the next Anthology film. I said "Gilwards."

Here's to hoping the Lord and Miller/ Howard mix is a match made in heaven too. From what I've seen so far, it's looking very promising. Like a funner, cooler version of Rogue One.

 

No.

 

Oh okay... I didn't have time to read all the comments beforehand...so that just stuck out for me like

 

Gilroy's comments to me illustrates why Disney is not releasing a Making of Book of any of their Star Wars movies. They are not going to really want us to know all the tid bits that occur in making their movie. That was the pinnacle of GL's star wars. We got a chance to really learn a lot, and I know that even then there are still some secrets that we don't know. But at least we know something. Those three Making of tomes are excellent. It's a shame now that this how Disney does things and Making of Books aint on the top of their list.

 

I think the excellent making of books came out well after the dust had settled - years later. At some point we'll get the full skinny on the ST, but whilst it's still ongoing, and any details on development may spoil future stories where ideas have been recycled are probably wisely off-limits for now.

 

It’s fun (and anxiety-inducing) to watch the sausage being made. But as long as the final sausage is a good sausage, I’m happy.

 

The jumping around feel of the opening act is certainly tied into that. Certainly Jyn's arrival on Yavin was different before as was her relationship with Saw. I'd say she was still a "Rebel" and rebelling (as per the dialogue cut) but that was not in like with the Yavin way of doing things.

Certainly Jyn's narrative was almost completely reworked on an emotional level. That is probably the arc that was not present in that form in a substantive way. Jyn was taken out of the Rebellion to where she didn't look up. This also accounts for the complete reshoot of all of Saw's scenes save the opening.

 

I really think that we are going to get a 10th anniversary mega edition release of Rogue One that includes all the commentary and behind the scenes and making of stuff, as well as the full uncut version of it before the re-shoots happened. There is so much money to be made from releasing an edition of RO like that, even if it's a limited edition, that I don't think they'll pass up the opportunity.

Also when you consider that 2027 is not only the 10th anniversary of RO, but also the 50th anniversary of Star Wars in general, there is going to be massive marketing potential for something like that. So I'm really holding out hope that that's something we get as part of the year long celebration that is going to see SW promoted to the umpteenth degree.

 

I could not agree more. Gilwards is my new favorite Star Wars director. If we can't have more Kershner, let's have more Gilwards. Whatever they did collectively, it worked and like you say, it feels amazingly 'real.'

Character shortcomings aside, I'm not even into Kaiju-type films but the sense of scale and perspective and atmosphere in Edwards' Godzilla is simply breathtaking, and seeing that same eye applied to Star Wars was one of the highlights of my life as a fan of this saga.

Generally, I really hope that they don't stop the anthology films. I know that Solo has been troubled, Boba Fett was shelved and we haven't heard anything official about any other in spite of the allusions to lots of films, but Rogue One made huge money and no matter how much it was reworked behind the scenes, the finished product is proof of concept that Star Wars can try new things and succeed. If Solo is a funner version of Rogue One, I'll be as happy as a mynock in an electronics warehouse.

 

I’m with you on the Anthology films. Though I enjoyed TFA, and really admired RJ’s ambition with TLJ (he swung for the fences and hit a double, IMO, but I respect the swing), there’s something a bit...thin and perfunctory about the new saga story and aesthetic. Essentially, to me, they feel like the OT as filtered through Twitter. They certainly speak to a young generation of fans, but they don’t quite speak my language. That’s OK, it’s just that I personally do not derive a lot of pleasure from them. I’m an aging fart and there’s nothing I can do about that.

But the look and feel of Rogue One, and now Solo, as well as the experimentation with other genres and tones, has me convinced that the Anthology films are a great space for expanding the potential of Star Wars. We got a spies and war film with Rogue One, and we’re getting a a hard luck underworld story with Solo. What’s next? I’m excited just thinking about all the potential answers to that question.

 

That's brilliant, and it fits perfectly.