Cassian Andor gets a new direction and we address some Mandalorian rumors

Time again for STAR WARS WEEKLY, the SYFY WIRE series that rounds up the most important news of the week from a galaxy far, far away.

Think of us as your own personal Star Wars Holocron.

A NEW DIRECTION FOR CASSIAN ANDOR

According to stories, Tony Gilroy is the man who saved Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Gareth Edwards, the director of that film, delivered a great first pass, but it was the reshoots that Tony Gilroy wrote and filmed that secured Rogue One a place as one of the best Star Wars films of all time. It was no surprise, then, that Gilroy was tapped to be the man who brought the prequel show starring Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) to life for Disney+.

Naturally, the global pandemic has caused delays for production, which had originally been scheduled to begin shooting already.

Deadline is now reporting that there’s one more change because of the pandemic: Tony Gilroy will no longer be directing the first three episodes of the series, thanks to COVID-related travel restrictions.

Reportedly, Gilroy is going to remain on as showrunner and executive producer, but he will be stepping aside from directing duties to allow Toby Haynes to step in. Haynes directed the Star Trek meets Twilight Zone episode of Black Mirror, "U.S.S. Callister," and had the benefit of already being in the U.K., where the untitled Cassian show will film.

There’s no official word on when the Cassian Andor show will start shooting and there’s no revised release schedule for it. Will we see it in 2021? 2022? At this point, who knows?  

THE MANDALORIAN RUMORS

“Did you hear that Pedro Pascal left The Mandalorian? Is that true?”

This is a question I’ve heard over and over and over again this past week. As I’ve dug in to find the answers, I’ve discovered that there’s really nothing to them.

The rumors began when YouTuber Grace Randolph (who has had a history of reporting fake stories) broke the “news” in her reaction video to the new trailer for The Mandalorian. In it, she claims that leading actor Pedro Pascal walked off The Mandalorian midseason over concerns that he wasn’t getting to act with his helmet off enough. This doesn’t pass the smell test on a lot of levels. Aside from Pascal’s delight in interviews for the first season about learning how to act with the mask on, the second season had begun shooting well before the first season even premiered and finished before the COVID-19 lockdown. And then you have Lucasfilm mainstay Phil Szostak tweeting just last month that he was on set in the final month of shooting and he was able to interact with Pascal.

Then, when you add to that this People interview from Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon) saying that they’re laying the groundwork for seasons three and four, it makes it hard to imagine that the lead character would just walk away.

For now, take these rumors with hefty grains of salt and wait to see how The Mandalorian unfolds for yourself. Season 2 premieres on Oct. 30 on Disney+.

THE SOLO SOUNDTRACK

One of the best parts of Solo: A Star Wars Story was the score. I mean, there were a lot of good parts to that film. It is highly enjoyable and underrated. But composer John Powell pulled out all the stops for the music and created something special.

Powell brings word via his Instagram account that there will soon be a digital release of over two hours of complete and uncut music from the film.

Unfortunately, there’s still no word on a vinyl release of the soundtrack. To date, it’s the only Star Wars film that hasn’t had a vinyl release. (Yes, Ewok Adventure got a soundtrack release on vinyl. It’s quite good, actually, Peter Bernstein scored it.) And the movie that never was, Shadows of the Empire, just got a vinyl soundtrack release. Will Solo get one? 

We can only hope.

RON COBB’S PASSING

Ron Cobb is a name legendary in the world of film design. Putting aside his work on Star Wars, he conceived designs for Alien, The Last Starfighter, and even the Delorean for Back to the Future. 

Cobb passed away this week at the age of 83.

For Star Wars, he worked alongside costume designer John Mollo and concept artist Ralph McQuarrie to create aliens for the cantina. 

Cobb is regarded as the creator of the Hammerhead Ithorians that are so central to the look of Star Wars. 

His contributions to the world of film and the designs we see in our dreams cannot be understated.

RIDLEY SCOTT ON STAR WARS

To end this week, we have a clip of director Ridley Scott talking about the impact Star Wars had on him. The first time he saw it, he was working on Alien. Scott has produced some of the finest science fiction the world has ever seen and to see how much impact Star Wars had on him is endlessly fascinating.

 Until next week, may the Force be with you!