Tony Gilroy, Co-Writer of Rogue One, Joins Disney+ Star Wars Cassian Andor Series
I got no problem with this. None at all.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’s Tony Gilroy has rejoined the Rebellion. The Rogue One co-writer will start penning episodes of the heretofore untitled Star Wars Cassian Andor series.
Tony Joins Alan and Diego
(The Walt Disney Company/Image Group LA)
ALAN TUDYK, DIEGO LUNA
The planned Disney Plus series centered on “Rogue One” character Cassian Andor is bringing in the film’s co-writer, Tony Gilroy, Variety has learned exclusively.
Gilroy is set to write the pilot for the series in addition to directing multiple episodes. He will work alongside Stephen Schiff, who remains onboard as showrunner. No official premiere date has been set, but Disney had previously indicated the show would debut in 2021.
The untitled show focuses on Rebel agent Andor prior to the events of “Rogue One” in the early days of the Rebellion against the Empire. The show has been described as a “spy thriller” when plans for it were first revealed last year. It was also previously announced that Diego Luna would return as Andor, while Alan Tudyk is set to reprise his role as K-2SO, Andor’s droid sidekick.
Rogue One Re-writes
While many (including this writer) have praised Rogue One, Gilroy said that the project was in tough shape when he joined the production.
In June 2016, Lucasfilm hired the Oscar-nominated writer to rework Rogue One: A Star Wars Story after the studio was unsatisfied by the state of director Gareth Edwards’ movie. By August, he was taking a leading role in postproduction and oversaw reshoots to fix a few issues, including the film’s ending. Gilroy ultimately was paid millions for his work, and many consider him the film’s ghost director.
Gilroy had not spoken publicly about Rogue One until Monday’s appearance on The Moment With Brian Koppelman podcast, where he noted that he immediately saw ways to improve the movie when he came on the scene in London.
“If you look at Rogue, all the difficulty with Rogue, all the confusion of it … and all the mess, and in the end when you get in there, it’s actually very, very simple to solve,” Gilroy said of the film. “Because you sort of go, ‘This is a movie where, folks, just look. Everyone is going to die.’ So it’s a movie about sacrifice.”
And it makes a whole lot of sense to have him reprise the writing, because (pssst, pretty much everyone in this show dies, too).
Prior to Star Wars
Variety added:
In addition to his work on “Rogue One,” Gilroy’s other screenwriting credits include the Jason Bourne film franchise as well as films like “Michael Clayton,” “The Devil’s Advocate,” and “Dolores Claiborne.” He also directed “Michael Clayton,” for which he earned Oscar nominations for both best original screenplay and best director. Gilroy also directed 2012’s “The Bourne Legacy.”
