BY DEREK SAMMS
First, we heard that Tony Gilroy was brought in for extensive rewrites and reshoots on director Gareth Edward’s Rogue One film. Then, Kathleen Kennedy replaced directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller on the standalone Han Solo movie with Ron Howard. And finally last week Colin Trevorrow was booted from Episode 9 and replaced by J.J. Abrams. So we gotta ask: What the heeeell is going on? Our panel tackles this somewhat divisive issue on this week’s show, along with all kinds of other Star Wars stuff. Check it out!
Here’s a little background on the situation:
Rogue One
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Gilroy, writer of several Bourne movies and director of best picture Oscar nominee Michael Clayton, first was brought in to help write dialogue and scenes for Rogue’s reshoots and was being paid $200,000 a week, according to several sources. That figure is fairly normal for a top-tier writer on a big-budget studio film. But as the workload (and the reshoots) expanded, so did Gilroy’s time and paycheck…Gilroy started on Rogue One in June, and by August, he was taking a leading role with Edwards in postproduction, which lasted well into the fall. The reshoots are said to have tackled several issues in the film, including the ending.” You can read the entire Hollywood Reporter article here >>>
Han Solo movie
Regarding the Han Solo movie, Variety reports, “Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s reputation for writing irreverent, poppy films such as “21 Jump Street” and “The Lego Movie” helped the white-hot writing and directing duo land one of the most coveted gigs in Hollywood — a chance to call the shots on a “Star Wars” film…Their exit comes after months of conflict with producer Kathleen Kennedy, others from her LucasFilm team, and co-writer and executive producer Lawrence Kasdan.” Read full Variety article here >>>
For the record, we here at THE CON GUY are reeeeally disappointed in this one. We love Lord and Miller and were super-stoked at the prospect of their film.
Star Wars Episode 9
J.J. Abrams is directing Episode 9. According to Deadline, “The deal is done, with Disney confirming Deadline’s scoop. Abrams will direct and also co-write the film with Chris Terrio. See the official press release at the bottom of the story. Rian Johnson decided not to take the offer to come back and replace the recently departed Colin Trevorrow on Star Wars: Episode IX.” Read full Deadline article here >>>
