Reshoots are common practice on big budget films, but when news broke that Star Wars: Rogue One was headed back to a galaxy far, far away for some additional filming many were worried about what it might mean for the highly anticipated spin-off. For his part, director Gareth Edwards thinks the concerns have been "blown out of proportion":
"I mean it was always part of the plan to do reshoots", Edwards told Entertainment Weekly. "We always knew we were coming back somewhere to do stuff. We just didn’t know what it would be until we started sculpting the film in the edit".
"There’s lots of little things that we have to get, but it’s all little things within the preexisting footage. Obviously, you’ve got to work around everyone’s schedule, and everyone’s on different films all over the world, and so it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare".
Edwards' comments were backed by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who noted that "there’s nothing about the story that’s changing" while indicating that the film won't necessarily be adjusting its dark tone:
“One of the things we’re doing with these Star Wars stories is embracing the uniqueness of the different genres, and we’re very deliberately leaning into the various styles of directors that we’re approaching so that each of these movies will very intentionally have a very different tone and style from the saga films. Gareth [Edwards] has shown a stylistic preference that’s much more handheld, visceral, inside-the-action kind of feel. He does a lot of handheld, intimate, close-up work. That’s not something you’ve necessarily seen in a Star Wars movie before".
It'd be easy to read this and think damage control, but I see no reason to doubt what Edwards and Kennedy are saying here. For some reason there is a weird stigma when it comes to reshoots in big budget filmmaking at the moment, even though additional filming only makes the final movie better.
Have these comments changed your outlook on Rogue One?
Directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, 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
