Rogue One Director Wishes He Made Tarkin the Main Villain
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is certainly a financial success for Disney and Lucasfilm, but the spinoff is not without a few glaring flaws. Even director Gareth Edwards has acknowledged that the final cut of Rogue One was far from his perfect vision. In fact, he stated that if he could go back in time, he would make Grand Moff Tarkin the main villain.
The director recently responded to fan mail in a fairly lengthy email. The fan was very confused but positive about the movie.
“So thankful for Rogue One! Mr. Lucas made it exactly the way it should be. It’s a masterpiece worthy of the Star Wars franchise, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! Welcome back George! Your fan, Lloyd Jacobs.”
Edwards accepted the compliment, but took the opportunity to address the controversy surrounding Rogue One as well as clarify exactly who made the film. Here’s what he had to say.
“Thank you so much for the email, Lloyd.
I know it’s a polarizing film, I really tried to make something different, with a look and a voice of its own. I took inspiration from the charm of the original trilogy and grittiness of war films. Making a movie is a journey, not a straight line. I learned so much. People want what they want, and everyone has a personal vision of how each character should look and walk and talk. If you set out to make a mass appeal movie, it’s easy to end up with vanilla. But I went for it. And I know Rogue has its flaws, hell, the world knows it.
Nothing hurts more than to pick up a newspaper and see a couple years of your blood, sweat and tears ripped to shreds. The hate game is strong out there, especially on Reddit. The movie was wildly successful commercially. And the world was introduced to some very cool new characters in the Star Wars universe. And that success is due exactly to the wonder and power of Lucasfilm’s universe and its characters.
Would I do a lot of things different? Yep, for sure. Wish I had a time machine. I’d make Tarkin the main villain and engineer a more grounded story with more of a focus on the emotional core of the film such as Jyn’s childhood as an angst prepubescent among the farmlands. However, seeing as Peter Cushing passed away 20-so years ago it made it very challenging to execute the character properly.
If I could, I would have made the whole film CGI so all the characters could interact with each other flawlessly. I love making movies and I love Star Wars. I have to give the characters, the stories, and plots they deserve next time around.
PS. My name is Gareth Edwards, not George Lucas, but thanks for comparing me to The Maker!”
One of the main complaints from a lot of fans and critics with Rogue One had to do with CGI Tarkin and Leia. Not only that, Darth Vader wound up being underutilized in the eyes of many, despite being prominently featured in the film’s promotional materials. Still, imperfect as it may be in the eyes of many, Rogue One has earned more than $1 billion worldwide to date – a huge hit for Disney.
What do you think about Gareth’s wishes? Do you think Rogue One would have been a better film if completely CGI-ed a la 2007’s Beowulf? More Tarkin? More Jyn flashbacks? Let us know in the comments below!
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-Voxx
