By: Dominic Jones
We're just over a month away from the launch of Disney+, and with it the first season of The Mandalorian (the first live action Star Wars series). But The Mandalorian isn't the only Star Wars project coming to Disney+ in the next few years. The second live action project announced was a Rogue One prequel series focused on Rebel agent Cassian Andor. The series will see Diego Luna reprise his role from the film as Cassian, as well as Alan Tudyk as his droid companion K-2SO.
Today we have learned that Luna and Tudyk aren't the only Rogue One heroes returning to Star Wars. Variety is reporting that Rogue One co-writer Tony Gilroy has joined the series, and will write and direct the first episode of the series and direct several more. Gilroy will work alongside Stephen Schiff, who was previously announced as showrunner. The series is set to launch on Disney+ in 2021.
Gilroy may have been credited as co-writer on Rogue One, however the truth of his involvement goes far deeper. Gilroy was brought in to write extensive new material for the film's infamous reshoots, which he also directed. Gilroy has been credited behind the scenes with "saving" the film, which he said in a 2018 interview was "in so much terrible, terrible trouble that all you could do was improve their position."
It seems that Gilroy has been asked to save another Star Wars project involving Cassian and K2. Steven Weintraub, the editor-in-chief of Collider, tweeted following the news breaking about Gilroy's involvement in the series, "I'd heard the Cassian Andor series was shut down a few weeks ago & everyone working on it was sent home. Heard the story/scripts weren’t good enough. Was getting ready to write a story about what I’d been hearing & the news about Tony Gilroy hit."
I'd heard the Cassian Andor series was shut down a few weeks ago & everyone working on it was sent home. Heard the story/scripts weren’t good enough. Was getting ready to write a story about what I’d been hearing & the news about Tony Gilroy hit. Wonder what day he was hired 2/2 https://t.co/aQtosuhWLW— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) October 16, 2019
If this is true, and we have no reason to believe it wouldn't be given Weintraub's track record (he was the first to break the news that Lucasfilm was moving away from the A Star Wars Story films last year), you can bet Lucasfilm was relieved to get Gilroy on board seeing as he saved them already once before. And given all the negative press the company received last year regarding the cancelling of the A Star Wars Story film, in light of Solo's disappointing box office returns, you can be they were desperate to avoid having to publicly cancel another project. Especially given that Luna and Tudyk had been a featured part of their Disney+ presentation at D23 Expo back in August.
The untitled Cassian Andor prequel series, staring Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk, will launch on Disney+ in 2021. It will be the third Star Wars series to hit Disney+, after The Mandalorian in November 2019 and the return of the beloved animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars in February 2020. Also coming to Disney+ is an untitled Obi-Wan Kenobi series, which will see Ewan McGregor reprise the role of Obi-Wan.
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