Oscar-winning Usual Suspects screenwriter slams Rogue One re-write rumours and defends director

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The news that Disney execs are unhappy with Star Wars: Rogue One and have ordered reshoots for the film has sparked a flurry of activity this week. Everything from what the additional shooting may contain to whether or not they were always planned has been scrutinized, which is par for the course for big-budget films these days. 

One such rumour that made its way to the web speculated that Oscar-winning scribe Chris McQuarrie would work with director Gareth Edwards on the reshoots, but according to the veteran writer-director that's not the case:

"If there are any reshoots on Rogue One, I’m not supervising them", McQuarrie told Slash Film. "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".

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While McQuarrie definitely makes some valid points, it's unlikely his comments will do much to assuage those who are presently a little worried about Rogue One. As someone who enjoyed Edwards' previous big-budget film Godzilla, I share McQuarrie's confidence in the director's abilities. Furthermore, reshoots don't exactly make a film worse; if anything, the extra material Edwards and co have to play with in the editing room will only make the film better. 

Directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen and Alan Tudyk, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is scheduled to open in UK and US cinemas on December 16, 2016.

Images: Disney/LucasFilm

Amon Warmann
Amon Warmann

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.