According to Deadline, there has been a director change for the upcoming Cassian Andor Disney+ series, as Toby Haynes will replace Tony Gilroy.
The change has taken place for entirely understandable and pragmatic reasons, so don’t freak out. Deadline says that Gilroy (who lives in New York) had to make a quick decision as to whether he would travel to the UK for filming and opted not to due to COVID-19. Gilroy, who was brought in to oversee Rogue One‘s extensive reshoots, will continue to be heavily involved with this spinoff series, serving as both the executive producer and showrunner. So, in some ways, his role will be analogous to Jon Favreau’s role in The Mandalorian‘s first season; Favreau was heavily involved as the showrunner but didn’t personally direct an episode (that has changed with season two).
As for Haynes, Deadline writes that he was already highly thought of and being considered to direct future episodes, and given the fact that he’s in the UK, everyone thought it just made sense for him to direct the early episodes. Interestingly, the Deadline article mentions that Haynes will direct the first three episodes – which makes me believe that Gilroy was originally going to direct these first three before perhaps bringing in other directors, since Haynes was already being considered for such a role.
This change makes sense and is totally understandable, and it seems like things have worked out well. So there’s probably not a whole lot to see here, so you can go about your business. However, one of the most interesting parts of the article to me was how it made it seem like the show will begin filming very soon. We read that production is about to start, as well as the fact that Gilroy needed to make a decision quickly. It sounds to me like this show will begin production very, very soon, which is pretty exciting.
Star Wars Thoughts 