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Now, before everyone gets in a tizzy about this New York Post Page Six gossip story, let’s extract the quotes from unnamed sources, which are much less inflammatory than the “Disney execs in a panic over upcoming ‘Star Wars’ film” headline.”
Cited as a “Hollywood source” and a “movie insider,” the informant has this to say:
The execs at Disney are not happy with the movie, and ‘Rogue One’ will have to go back into four weeks of expensive reshoots in July.
And then:
Gareth’s work on the first ‘Godzilla’ [which came out in 2014] shows he can handle a big studio blockbuster. But ‘Rogue One’ has fallen short of what J.J. Abrams did with ‘Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.’ So Disney has ordered reshoots.
And lastly:
Disney won’t take a back seat, and is demanding changes, as the movie isn’t testing well.
Then, a person quoted as a “Disney source” responded thusly to the contents of the article:
The filmmaking team and the studio always anticipated additional shooting and second unit work to make the film the absolute best it can be, and the actors were aware there would be additional shooting. Coming off ‘The Force Awakens,’ there’s an incredibly high bar for this movie and we have a responsibility to the franchise and to the fans to deliver the best possible movie we can.
Meanwhile, the Stormtrooper Larry website (be careful of spoilers over there) got wind of a news account in Hong Kong in which Donnie Yen says he will be returning to London for additional photography.
I’ve read all sorts of spin articles on this, and it’s not enough to get me too worked up. Not yet. Maybe drops me down to DefCon 4 from DefCon 5. Concerned, paying a little more attention now, that sort of thing. From what I’ve gathered, reshoots are, in fact, normal and happen all the time. And, in fact, the Disney executives could have liked what they’d seen and asked for reshoots that would bring more of an awesome character onto the screen.
So, bottom line? Not necessarily a bad thing, and Page Six has a long way to go to prove that it is, I’d say. Would love to hear your take, though – have your say in the comments!
Trivia Time!
Test your knowledge of the Star Wars universe!Yesterday’s answer: An interrogation droid
Today’s question: What significant object was present during Kylo Ren’s interrogation of Rey that wasn’t present for his interrogation of Poe Dameron?