Rogue One [Official Info] Gareth Edwards to Direct first Spin Off !

Great to hear. Been waiting for the Return of the Gareth. Now give him another Star Wars.

 

Looks a bit generic for now. Jury's still out.

 

Can’t tell if serious. Looks very unique, full of texture, and the cinematography is incredible.

Amen. If this film does well at the BO, I think he’ll be back in demand at LFL.

I even think Andor could’ve used a little of his visual touch. As much as I completely love that show.

 

Looks pretty, but I don't see anything original or creative in the setting or story. I hope I'm wrong about that.

 

No qualms visually. Par for the course with Edwards, Fraser, etc.

Narratively? TBD

 

It's a bit of a tired premise, but it looks like it has enough unique wrinkles to it that it could be something special.

 

I’ve always considered it mostly Edwards. But the story tightening that happened under his direction, and some of the dialogue that was allegedly written by him, shows Gilroy hallmarks. I do honestly think Lucasfilm should hire them both as a writer-director duo (with Gareth directing) for a new Star Wars film. Gareth, I think, does a better job of creating a layered, organic and alien world than Gilroy. But Gilroy I think is overall a better writer. So to me, they constitute a dream team.

 

I think it's telling that an arbiter made them give Gilroy a writing credit but not a directing credit. Also, what Gilroy describes as the problems with the movie seem to be story/writing issues.

 

Yup. It was all script. The direction and cinematography is flawless.

 

Gareth's director's cut of Rogue One (pre-Gilroy) is probably one of the few remaining white whales of Star Wars because it actually exists. All of the other abandoned or reworked projects never got that far along.

 

I wouldn't really call it a director's cut, because the version that existed prior to Gilroy getting involved was not a finished movie, nor how Edwards would have ended it if it had been entirely up to him. It's basically just an early cut of the movie, if even that.

 

Gilroy called what he saw a "director's cut," so while I'm sure it was largely unfinished in terms of post production (music, sound, vfx), I'd assume it's still a full cut with some sense of pace and story. But of course, it was one that was clearly in need of saving, and well beyond a first assembly.

 

I believe Edwards or Kennedy or someone explicitly said that it never got to the director's cut stage, and I would be inclined to take their word over the offhand description made by someone who didn't come onto the project until after that version was already cut. Also, I believe reshoots were part of the original production schedule and the version of the movie taken to Gilroy was prior to when those reshoots were scheduled.
My best guess as to what happened is that Edwards put together an initial cut of the film, the story issues became obvious in this initial cut, Edwards didn't have a good plan to fix it, Kennedy sought outside help to keep schedule (Gilroy), Gilroy had vision for fixing the story, Gilroy shoots a few scenes to build the character arcs, and the final cut gets assembled (cue the OTHER Gilroy).

 

It looks a whole lot like Rogue One and I ain't gonna complain about that. There's even a guy banging on a bell when enemies attack which to be fair was in Andor not Rogue One but same energy.

Anyway if we're still talking about Edwards pre-Gilroy R1 stuff, I think the shot of Krennic walking through the water was definitely in Edwards version (and the first trailer). In the final cut, Krennic never leaves the spire. ("Are we blind? Deploy the garrison!") Anyway I can't speak to how much different Edwards' version was was but if he had the Jyn and Cassian escape ending, which I think Luna said they shot, that was definitely not a great way to end it comparatively to what we got.

I'm sure on the publicity tour for Creator, Edwards will end up talking a bit about it so probably get some more tidbits in a few months.

 

There was a backup version of the story wherein they escape, just in case Lucasfilm nixed the “they all die” ending. But Edwards always intended for them to all sacrifice themselves on Scarif. That’s not a choice made by Gilroy. Gilroy simply tightened the ending up. Originally, in the Edwards version, they steal the DS plans in one building and then have to travel/ run to a different building/ comms tower to beam them out. And Krennic goes after them. We see shots of that ending in the trailers. Gilroy pared that down so that the plans and the comms tower were in the same building.

I really wish Lucasfilm would release those scenes, as many of them are finished and look incredible. Don’t understand this modern aversion - among studios - to not release deleted scenes. Feed the fans!

 

It seems like Lucasfilm won't release deleted scenes that don't work within the larger context of the existing final film. The same goes for TROS, which apparently had significant reshoots from its first act. But in contrast, we have seen deleted scenes from SOLO, despite the fact the majority of the film was reshot, because those scenes would still fit.

Most deleted scenes released to the public tend to be character beats or redundant story points sacrificed for the sake of pacing. But deleted scenes that involve major changes to the story (like many of those in Rogue One) typically aren't released because they would require much more explanation and context. Lucasfilm isn't interested in revealing how that particular sausage was made.

 

Really? Here’s one sentence that would cover the context of these deleted scenes:

“The following are deleted scenes from an early cut of the film that featured a few different plot points and an alternative ending.”

That’s it. Fans eat it up, eat their minstrels, and rejoice. What’s the actual downside, apart from spending a little bit of money on preparing the scenes for audiences to view? As far as RO is concerned, there’s a ton of footage that’s essentially finished too. So not much post-production work needs to happen.

 

I'm half expecting that we will get some kind of release like that for the 10th anniversary of Rogue One that includes the alternate cut and all the unseen footage. It would also be right on the cusp of the 50th anniversary of Star Wars, so that would be a perfect lead in to that as a way to get the fandom excited.

That is, unless the current leadership at LucasFilm has different ideas for the marketing of Star Wars during that time.

 

I think Lucasfilm wants to avoid releasing anything that might cast a poor light on the film, especially unused material that was part of an early edit in desperate need of saving.

 

But what would the consequences of that be? The movie already made an insane amount of money and is already beloved by fans. Showing us cool additional footage will simply be…cool. And will likely drive some more revenue. Fans of Rogue One will love to see it. And people who aren’t fans of Rogue One won’t even be watching. It’d be pretty silly to be worried about deleted scenes somehow driving bad press.