ROGUE ONE Reshoots To “Lighten The Mood”

More information is coming to light about this week’s report that the first Star Wars spinoff film, Rogue One, was about to undergo four weeks of extensive and expensive reshoots.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed what we suspected when it was first reported that the four weeks of reshooting on the film would be additional photography to change the tone of the film.

The move is happening after execs screened the film and felt it was tonally off with what a “classic” Star Wars movie should feel like. The pic has not yet been tested before audiences, but one source describes the cut as having the feel of a war movie.

The goal of the reshoots will be to lighten the mood, bring some levity into the story and restore a sense of fun to the adventure.

Well, what the hell did Disney execs think? They were pitched this as a war film. Director Gareth Edwards talked about the project in the media as a war film. At the Disney-sponsored Star Wars Celebration con last year, no less. And now the brass is upset that they got a war film? Were they not paying attention through the whole process?

Back when the Star Wars spinoff films were first being revealed, I thought it was a great idea. The Star Wars galaxy is big enough to explore with many different types of stories. It would be great to see a sweeping romance set against the backdrop of the Galactic Civil War, an interstellar From Here To Eternity if you will. Why not a more comedic Star Wars story in the vein of Kevin Rubio’s Tag & Bink comics from Dark Horse Comics? The fact that Rogue One was being billed as a straight-up war movie signaled that it looked as if Disney was going to really explore that promise.

Granted, since the film does lead right up to “10 minutes before” the very first Star Wars film, the Reporter’s Disney source’s argument that “You have to match the tone!” is a valid one for having Rogue One feeling similar to the mainline Star Wars saga. But that was a consideration that should have been in place back in the development process, not when you’re just six months out from the film’s schedule release. This is some lack of foresight that will cut into the film’s inevitable profits by millions. And even though it is inevitable that their $4.4 billion investment in purchasing Lucasfilm will certainly pay off for them in the long run, it seems as if Disney execs are still skittish about protecting their investment.