On Tuesday, a report from Page Six revealed that "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" will be going into four weeks of "expensive" reshoots in July.
Reportedly, Disney executives were not happy with what they had initially seen.
It was troubling news, especially given the warm reception to the trailer released in early April. The movie is a spin-off; part of a new experiment in the "Star Wars" franchise. Instead of directly following 2015's "The Force Awakens," it takes place between the events of "Episode III" and "Episode IV." It also reportedly takes on a much darker tone.
Tone seems to be the biggest issue here.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the first cut had the feel of "a war movie." Fans are worried about what reshoots could mean for the film, but they might simply help "Rogue One" appeal to a wider audience. This could also be a response to "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice." That film's darkness turned off audiences, and its box office failure has led to a massive fallout at Warner Brothers.
Disney is planning two more "Star Wars Story" spin-offs to be released in the next few years. "Rogue One" is an experiment for a sometimes risk-averse studio, and if it doesn't work, it could spell huge trouble for the studio.
However, nobody has seen the movie yet, and there is a chance that these reshoots aren't a bad thing.
1) Reshoots happen all the time.
It's possible that reshoots were planned for "Rogue One" from the start.
"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," a Disney source told Page Six.
Films of this magnitude typically go through reshoots. Movies ranging from "E.T." to "The Avengers" have gone through extensive reshoots. Between executives, producers, and test audiences, there are always a lot of people who want their voices and opinions heard.
2) It could bring young Han Solo on board.
Another rumor brought up by The Hollywood Reporter is that reshoots will make Han Solo a part of "Rogue One."
One of the future "Star Wars" spin-offs is a prequel revolving around Han Solo. Speculation over casting for the highly coveted role went on for months. Alden Ehrenreich was officially cast long after principal photography ended, but reshoots might mean that "Rogue One" could give us our first look at a young Han Solo before his film is released in 2018.
3) According to J.J. Abrams, a reshoot saved "Star Wars"
During the "Force Awakens" shoot, Harrison Ford broke his leg after a piece of the Millennium Falcon fell on him. The injury could have ruined the movie, but director J.J. Abrams saw it as a blessing in disguise.
"When Harrison Ford got injured — which was a very scary day — we ended up having a few weeks off, and it was during that time that I really got to look at what we had done and rewrite quite a bit of [Rey and Finn's] relationship. So when we came back to work again, we actually just reshot from the ground up, those scenes. It was an amazingly helpful thing to get these two characters to where they needed to be," Abrams said during a talk at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Yes, it's possible that "Rogue One" is in need of some major improvements, but reshoots could give director Gareth Edwards the time he needs to re-think his strategy and fix whatever problems the film may have.
The best part of working on a franchise like this is the luxury to go back and do reshoots. It's too early to hit the panic button.
We have reached out to Disney for comment and will update this post when we hear back.
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