Star Wars: Rogue One is easily one of, if not the most anticipated film on many a movie buff's calendar, and with good reason. The first trailer revealed a grittier side of the Star Wars universe full of characters I can't wait to meet, and the two minute teaser implied that Disney were very confident about the one-off prequel. Apparently, that's not the case.
According to Page Six, Disney execs are "not happy with the movie, and "Rogue One’ will have to go back into four weeks of expensive reshoots in July". The report goes on to state that the film has "fallen short of what J.J. Abrams did with ‘Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.’ So Disney has ordered reshoots".
While it's easy to read this and start panicking, it's important to remember that reshoots are normal for blockbuster movies. Indeed, the same Page Six article notes that "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".
There are ALWAYS big and small changes that take place on a film of this size from the beginning of production all the way up to the final edit. As such, I'm still confident Gareth Edwards and co will deliver the goods. With that said, I'm intrigued to know what exactly the "expensive reshoots" will contain, and I wouldn't be surprised if this means we get to see a little more Darth Vader come December.
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
