Disney is getting ready to start production on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story spinoff Cassian Andor, but a new director has been found in Black Mirror's Toby Haynes. He's replacing Tony Gilroy, the filmmaker who stepped in to help finish Rogue One when original director Gareth Edwards seemingly found himself overwhelmed by taking the helm of the first Star Wars spinoff movie.
Deadline reports that Gilroy was forced to drop out due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions.
He's based in New York, and ultimately made the decision to remain in the Big Apple rather than travelling over to the UK for several months (it's hard to blame him when things are getting increasingly worse in the country with projections of 50,000 cases a day by the middle of next month).
Haynes directed the "U.S.S. Callister" episode of Black Mirror, and also the HBO Brexit movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch. He was always being lined up for Cassian Andor, but it seems Lucasfilm has decided to trust him with setting the tone of the prequel series with these first few episodes.
As the trade notes, "The untitled show focuses on Rebel agent Andor prior to the events of Rogue One in the early days of the Rebellion against the Empire. The show had been described as a 'spy thriller' when plans for it first were revealed last year. It was also previously announced that Luna would return as Andor, while Alan Tudyk is set to reprise his role as K-2SO."
Other cast members include Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kyle Soller. Are you looking forward to seeing what Haynes does with Cassian Andor?