In the end, “Rogue One” was a huge success, making over $1 billion at the box office and garnering very favorable reviews. It’s still widely considered to be one of the best things produced under the Disney era of “Star Wars.” But the production was famously troubled, with extensive rewrites and reshoots needed late in the process. Tony Gilroy, who eventually went on to head-up the spin-off series “Andor” for Disney+, was brought in to oversee the process and is even said to have taken over some directing duties from Edwards.
Gilroy described the situation as a “mess” in 2018 adding that “they were in such a swamp … they were in so much terrible, terrible, trouble that all you could do was improve their position.” Regardless of who did what, it turned out well in the end. But after making two blockbusters in just a handful of years, Edwards took a long break from directing. He waited a full seven years before releasing “The Creator” last year. While promoting that film last year, he explained the need for the break as wanting to get off the hamster wheel, so to speak. As he said:
“I needed to get off the merry-go-round, do you know what I mean? In Hollywood, you can get stuck on the hamster wheel, or whatever analogy you want to use. I just wanted to get off and have a break to take some time thinking about the next thing.”
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is currently streaming on Disney+.