Disney Orders Changes to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

According to an unnamed source, Page Six is reporting that Disney ordered a recut and re-edit for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The Hollywood source tells the site that the juggernaut Disney execs were not happy with the first cut of the Star Wars spinoff movie:

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.

Reshoots aren’t anything new or surprising in the world of movies. For a big-budget film like Rogue One, it’s a little more surprising and alarming. After a crowd-pleasing teaser trailer earlier this year, it seemed as though the path that director Gareth Edwards was taking was a good one. The source goes on to explain what some of Disney’s thought process was around the reshoot decisions:

Gareth’s work on the first ‘Godzilla’ [which came out in 2014] 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.

Some of the cast of characters in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

If J.J. Abrams and Star Wars: The Force Awakens is any kind of benchmark for the crew and the studio heads, that’s a pretty high bar. Keep in mind, this hasn’t been confirmed outside of this unnamed source and there are no indications as to what changes have been demanded.

The filmmaking team and the studio always anticipated additional shooting and second unit work to make the film the absolute best it can be, and the actors were aware there would be additional shooting. Coming off ‘The Force Awakens,’ there’s an incredibly high bar for this movie and we have a responsibility to the franchise and to the fans to deliver the best possible movie we can.

Page Six’s source added that there was always a possibility of reshoots, recuts, and changes. It’s the first official spinoff film for the beloved franchise and one of many. Due to be released on December 16th of this year, here’s hoping whatever the changes may be to Rogue One, they’re for the better.