Star Wars: Rogue One Writer Addresses Likelihood of Alternate Cut Getting Released

For those Star Wars fans who were hoping to one day get the chance to watch an alternate cut of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, writer Tony Gilroy has offered a relatively definitive and disappointing update about such a release, as he recently shared with The Hollywood Reporter of such a notion, “Oh, my God. No.” The filmmaker also noted how there are a lot of rumors out there about what really went on behind the scenes on the project, as he claimed that people who speak with the most authority on the film’s development are the ones who have the least grasp on actual details about the spin-off film. Gilroy returned to Star Wars for Star Wars: Andor, with Season 2 of the series in production now.

When asked about an alternate cut of the film being released, Gilroy confirmed, “Uh, no. That was the absolute best possible version you could ever have. Oh, my God. No. No.”

From the moment Rogue One landed in theaters, audiences knew that they were seeing something different from what they expected, as a variety of scenes were shown in trailers for the film that didn’t appear in the movie itself. Rather than alternate angles or takes of such sequences, it seemed as though scenes were entirely reworked, with trailers famously including footage of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) running across the beaches of Scarif with the Death Star plans in her hands or having a TIE Fighter emerging in front of her while she crossed scaffolding. 

In response to being asked for more details about the film, he confirmed, “I’m not going to go into any more detail. But the more authority that you hear people talk about online about what happened on that movie, the less they know. That’s all that needs to be said. Maybe someday … but no. That’s the absolute best version of that movie that you could possibly imagine in the time that was given.”

Gilroy wrote Rogue One along with Chris Weitz, while Gareth Edwards directed the project. As far as confirmed details about the project are concerned, Rogue One definitively underwent reshoots that Gilroy was more involved with than a writer typically would be, with these reshoots altering a number of elements of the film. The big question remains just how significantly these reshoots impacted the overall experience, with Gilroy’s response hinting that we might not be getting a complete answer anytime soon. 

Given that Lucasfilm shoots down any hope of the original, theatrically released trilogy of Star Wars films debuting anywhere, this makes an alternate cut of Rogue One ever seeing the light of day seem entirely unlikely.

Stay tuned for details on Star Wars: Andor.

Do you wish we could see an alternate cut of Rogue One? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!