Via Pagesix.com:
The first “Star Wars” spinoff, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” is in crisis, and the movie will have to go into expensive reshoots over the summer, sources exclusively confirmed to Page Six.
The much-anticipated “Rogue One” is due for release on Dec. 16, but we’re told bosses at Disney are not fully satisfied with the first cut from director Gareth Edwards.
One Hollywood source told us, “The execs at Disney are not happy with the movie, and ‘Rogue One’ will have to go back into four weeks of expensive reshoots in July.”
The movie stars Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker and Diego Luna. The “Star Wars” franchise’s first spinoff film will take us back in time to a point between Episodes III and IV. The plot reportedly sees resistance fighters embark on a daring mission to steal the plans for the Death Star before it can be used to enforce the Emperor’s cruel rule.
There has been much speculation that the movie will take a darker turn and Darth Vader will appear as the Emperor’s chief enforcer. It is also believed that a young Han Solo will make a cameo appearance. Page Six exclusively revealed earlier this month that Alden Ehrenreich has landed the coveted part to play the young Solo, a role made famous by Harrison Ford.
It was announced earlier this month that Edwards would not direct “Godzilla 2” later this year, and would instead “focus on smaller films.” But the movie insider told us, “Gareth’s work on the first ‘Godzilla’ [which came out in 2014] shows he can handle a big studio blockbuster. But ‘Rogue One’ has fallen short of what J.J. Abrams did with ‘Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.’ So Disney has ordered reshoots.”
Edwards is well-known as a risk-taking director, but has also been reported to prefer to keep studio influence at a minimum. The source added, “Disney won’t take a back seat, and is demanding changes, as the movie isn’t testing well.”
Reps for Edwards didn’t get back to us last night.
A Disney source added, “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. Coming off ‘The Force Awakens,’ there’s an incredibly high bar for this movie and we have a responsibility to the franchise and to the fans to deliver the best possible movie we can.”
