Star Wars spin-off Rogue One sent for 'expensive reshoots' by Disney

The movie is scheduled for release on 16 December but will undergo four weeks of reshoots in July

The Star Wars: Rogue One cast (Disney)

Expensive reshoots have reportedly been ordered for upcoming Star Wars spin-off movie Rogue One.

Disney executives were “not happy” with the first cut from director Gareth Edwards, according to a Hollywood source quoted by insider website Page Six.

The much-hyped film, starring Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelsen and Forest Whitaker and currently titled Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, is due for release on 16 December.

However, the source said: “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. Gareth’s work on the first Godzilla [2014] shows he can handle a big studio blockbuster but Rogue One has fallen short of what JJ Abrams did with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Disney won’t take a back seat and is demanding changes, as the movie isn’t testing well.”

Page Six has approached Edwards, known for taking risks in his work, for comment but he is yet to respond. Disney has insisted that “the filmmaking team and the studio always anticipted additional shooting and second unit work to make the film the absolute best it can be”.

Little is known about the plot, but the film will take fans back in time to somewhere between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It is rumoured that the storyline will follow a resistance mission to steal the Emperor’s Death Star plans before they can be used for evil.

Darth Vader is expected to appear in the darker movie as the Emperor’s chief enforcer, while Alden Ehrenreich is believed to be making his first cameo appearance as a young Han Solo.