Rogue One: Star Wars director Gareth Edwards discusses reshoots and deleted scenes seen in the trailers
** Mild spoilers for Rogue One ahead **
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Although Rogue One only hit cinemas a week ago, fans of the Star Wars series have already analysed every frame of the film searching for hidden easter eggs.
As noted by many viewers, several scenes previously seen in the trailers were excluded from the final film, many of which point to Rogue One having a completely different ending.
Speaking to the Empire Film Podcast, as picked up by The Telegraph, director Gareth Edwards discussed how an early draft of the film included members of the titular team surviving.
"I think there was an early version [of the screenplay] – the very first version they didn't [die] in. And it was just assumed by us that we couldn't [kill the cast] and they're not gonna let us do that.
"So we're trying to figure out how this ends where that doesn't happen. And then everyone read that [original screenplay], and there was just this feeling of like, 'They gotta die, right?' And everyone was like, 'Yeah, can we?'
"And we thought we weren't gonna be allowed to, but Kathy [Kennedy] and everyone at Disney were like, 'Yeah, makes sense.’
"I kept waiting for someone to go, 'You know what, can you just film an extra scene where we see Jyn and Cassian, they're okay, and they're on another planet…' And [that] never, ever came. No one gave us that note, so we got to do it.”
Interestingly, Edwards spoke about the long-discussed reshoots, admitting the final third was ‘refined,’ adding he was fine with the marketing team using the unused shots.
"There was a bit of a process to refining the third act in terms of specific shots and moments, and certain things just fell away. What happened was marketing loved those shots and said, 'Oh, we've got to use that.' And you say, 'Well, it's not in the movie,' and they said 'It's okay.
“It's what marketing does, we just use the best of whatever you've done.’ I know that's not in the film, but the spirit of it is in the film.”
Rogue One grossed almost $300 million over the weekend, putting Disney’s total gross for the year over the $7 billion mark, the most any studio has ever made in a single year.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments