In front of the Erso home stands Director Orson Krennic flanked by Deathtroopers.
Lyra takes off a pendant and hands it over to her daughter, fastening it around her neck. You know where to go, don’t you? Trust the Force. Galen embraces Jyn and the two stand still for a few moments. Remember, whatever I do, I do it to protect you. ERSO HOMESTEAD (Inside the Erso homestead) Cuts to a young Jyn Erso running across the rocky plain with the ship following behind her. The ship flies down across a farm and passes by a white worker droid, who watches the ship. A shot of the planet closer up with the ship flying towards the surface. Switches to a shot of the planet Lah’mu and the ship flying through the rings. Opens on a shot of a planet which pans up to a view of planetary rings with a small ship flying through them. Be sure to listen to the relevant section of the podcast, starting at about 46 minutes in, and for much more from Gilroy throughout the episode.A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Personally, I'd be happier watching a tell-all from the making of this movie rather than watching Rogue One again, but it's fascinating that the creative team was able to cobble together anything at all with so many disparate parts. The self-sacrificial angle appears to have come mostly from Gilroy while the smattering of heist-movie-meets-war-film glimpsed throughout the picture probably stemmed from the movie's other screenwriters, including Chris Weitz, John Knoll, and Gary Whitta. "It doesn't appeal to me, but I don't think Rogue really is a Star Wars movie in many ways. When pressed again about his possible future in Star Wars, Gilroy doubled down: Everyone is going to die.' So it's a movie about sacrifice." Because you sort of go, this is a movie where, 'Folks, just look. "If you look at Rogue, all the difficulty with Rogue, all the confusion of it, and all the smart people and all the mess, and in the end when you get in there, it's actually very, very simple to solve. Speaking of easy, apparently Gilroy's fix for the film was a real softball for him: I have a screenplay credit in the arbitration that was easily won."
Without getting into detail, Gilroy hinted at his role that went beyond that of a producer on the film, strongly suggesting that his screenplay credit was well-earned: And they were in such a swamp … they were in so much terrible, terrible trouble that all you could do was improve their position." "I've never been interested in Star Wars, ever. Since Rogue One banked over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, however, Gilroy might reconsider if Disney pressed the issue: Gilroy is, admittedly, not a fan of the franchise and has no interest in directing another film, a stance which freed him up from being too precious with the material but also disconnected him from the fandom. Gilroy went on "The Moment with Brian Koppelman" podcast (via THR) in support of his new film Beirut but ultimately ended up clearing the air regarding the Star Wars anthology film. Now, for the first time, Gilroy is getting candid about his time running triage for Rogue One.
Whatever your thoughts on how Rogue One ended up, there's little doubt that the story evolved quite a bit throughout the film's production, including infamous reshoots and reworking by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Tony Gilroy. For others, the behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded over the course of the Disney/Lucasfilm production makes for a much better story than the on-screen adventures of a rag-tag group of resistance fighters banding together to steal plans for the Empire's greatest weapon, thus discovering its only weakness and kicking off a rebellion in earnest. For some, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a worthy addition to the Star Wars canon.