Entertainment

Disney execs are reportedly 'not happy' with the 'Star Wars' spin-off and have demanded reshoots

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"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."  Disney

Disney may have its first hiccup in its lucrative "Star Wars" franchise.

The first cut of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" was shown to Disney executives, and they were not satisfied, according to a Page Six story quoting an anonymous source.

The source told Page Six that the execs "are not happy with the movie" and it will now go back and do four weeks of reshoots in July.

Directed by Gareth Edwards ("Godzilla") and starring Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, and Diego Luna, "Rogue One" is the first feature-length spin-off of the "Star Wars" saga. It looks at the Rebel forces taking on the Empire before the events that transpire in "Episode IV," the original 1977 film.

Reshoots are nothing new for a large movie. In March, news broke that "Suicide Squad" was also going back for reshoots.

In fact, most Hollywood movies, especially titles like "Rogue One" that have the studio's full attention, do reshoots. Sometimes it's to clean up clarity in scenes, while other times there are rewrites after the first cut is screened. But what will put "Star Wars" fans on edge is that, if you believe the Page Six source, Disney execs aren't happy with what they saw in "Rogue One."

There's certainly a lot of pressure for Edwards to deliver the same kind of hit that J.J. Abrams did with "The Force Awakens," but that might set up unfair expectations.

Abrams took a lot of the great parts of the original trilogy to continue the story in "Force Awakens." Though there will certainly be some "Star Wars" hallmarks in "Rogue One" (maybe even a cameo by the young Han Solo, Alden Ehrenreich), the movie will basically be a brand new tale. And if there's anything Hollywood studio heads don't like, it's putting hundreds of millions of dollars into something that isn't a sure thing.

So think of the reshoots as Disney trying to hedge its bet.

"Rogue One" will open in theaters December 16.

Disney did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

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Jason Guerrasio
Jason Guerrasio
Jason Guerrasio is an award-winning entertainment correspondent at Business Insider and has covered various aspects of the film industry for over two decades. On the site, his reporting can range from what's going on behind the scenes at some of the biggest companies in Hollywood, colorful interviews with some of the most well-known names in entertainment, and exploring the darker side of the industry.In 2020, Jason received the New York Press Club award and Los Angeles Press Club award for his story on the rise and fall of MoviePass. It has since been made into the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary "MoviePass, MovieCrash."Previous to BI, Jason was the managing editor at Filmmaker Magazine, one of the leading publications in the independent film industry. He's also written for numerous publications over the years, including Vanity Fair, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Vulture, Variety, and indieWire.Popular ArticlesMary Carole McDonnell built a true-crime empire. Then the FBI came for her. Growing up Marvel: The tormented life of Stan Lee's child, JC LeeA bullet. A legend. A lie. Bufford Pusser killed his wife, authorities say. What happens to his legacy now?