Rogue One greatly surpassed all expectations when it was released in 2016, but the Star Wars prequel movie was dogged with rumors and reports during its production. Namely, that director Gareth Edwards was effectively ‘pushed out’ of the film’s production and was replaced all but in name by Tony Gilroy, who would later go on to be the showrunner for Star Wars: Andor.
However, during a podcast appearance, Edwards put those rumors about the Star Wars movie to rest. “The stuff that’s out there on the internet about what happened on that film — there is so much inaccuracy about the whole thing,” Edwards, who recently directed new movie The Creator noted in a recent appearance on KCRW’s The Business podcast. Of all the Star Wars movies in order, Rogue One is widely regarded by fans and critics to be among the best movies in the franchise. And Edwards is adamant that he was involved with the film right until the end.
“Tony [Gilroy] came in, and he did a lot of great work, for sure. No doubt about it. But we all worked together until the entire last minute of that movie,” he explained. While rumors were rife that Lucasfilm “sidelined” Edwards and brought Gilroy on board to film additional scenes and write new dialog, Edwards also took the opportunity to clarify that, as well as the film’s main principal photography, he was also involved in Rogue One’s five weeks of reshoots.
“The very last thing that we filmed in the pickup shoot was the Darth Vader corridor scene,” he recalled. “I did all of that stuff.”
But despite the rumors surrounding his involvement in one of the best science fiction movies ever, Edwards only looks back at his time with Star Wars with fondness. “Look, the only thing I can say is I was incredibly lucky. I got to make a Star Wars film. I won the lottery, in that sense,” he said “The idea of someone as privileged as me in any way implying that it was anything other than the amazing experience that it was to some extent — like, I don’t have any empathy for that person, and I don’t want to be that person either.”
For more on the Star Wars series Andor, check out our guides on the Andor cast and the Andor season 2 release date. You might also be interested in our listicles breaking down the best Star Wars characters, the Star Wars cast, and the new Star Wars movies, but if you’re more into James Cameron than Gareth Edwards, here’s what we know about Avatar 3.