Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is considered a high point for the franchise following Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012. The film grossed more than $1 billion globally and launched the critically acclaimed prequel series Andor on Disney+.
The path to getting there has become the stuff of Star Wars legend, with stories of reshoots and creative overhauls well-documented in the press. But according to director Gareth Edwards, “there is so much inaccuracy” circulating about the film’s making.
In June 2016, Lucasfilm hired Oscar-nominated writer Tony Gilroy to join the Rogue One team. Reports emerged that his influence was so great that he has been considered the film’s ghost director, overseeing reshoots and post-production.
Edwards, who retained sole director credit, is now back with The Creator, a well-regarded sci-fi film. In an interview with Kim Masters for KCRW‘s The Business, he gave some of his most extensive reflections on the Rogue One situation to date. Notably, he pushed back against the narrative surrounding on-set strife.
“The stuff that is out there on the internet about what happened on that film — there is so much inaccuracy about the whole thing,” Edwards said. “Tony came in, and he did a lot of great work, for sure. No doubt about it. But we all worked together until the last minute of that movie.”
Rogue One included five weeks of reshoots, and Edwards noted he was there all along.
“The very last thing that we filmed in the pickup shoot was the Darth Vader corridor scene,” Edwards said of a signature scene at the end of the film. “I did all of that stuff.”
Ultimately, Edwards said he would not speak ill of an experience like directing a Star Wars film.
“Someone who gets that opportunity to make a Star Wars film and then starts complaining about it, I don’t think many people have that much empathy for that kind of person. I so don’t want to be them. It was a dream come true. I’m proud of the movie we all made,” said Edwards. “What goes into Fight Club stays in Fight Club kind of thing. It’s like that. I just want to sound grateful for what happened and not talk negatively about anything.”
The Creator puts Edwards back in the Disney fold, as the company’s 20th Century Studios is releasing it. The $80 million budgeted is expected to earn around $14 million domestically this weekend.
Gilroy, too, is still in the Disney fold, as the creator of the Rogue One prequel Andor.
Gilroy spoke candidly about his experience in a 2018 appearance on the podcast The Moment With Brian Koppelman.
“I’ve never been interested in Star Wars, ever. So, I had no reverence for it whatsoever. I was unafraid about that,” said Gilroy. “And they were in such a swamp … they were in so much terrible, terrible trouble that all you could do was improve their position.”
