Today we got the official trailer for the long delayed, and much anticipated series, Andor, the latest Star Wars television series from Lucasfilm for Disney+. The Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prequel and spin-off is being showrun by Tony Gilroy, who’s best known for the initial Bourne trilogy, and helping with major rewrites on the aforementioned Rogue One. Initially Gilroy was expected to direct episodes of Andor, but it was later revealed that plans had changed due to the global pandemic, and that Gilroy would not direct any episodes of the series. However it’s now being questioned if Gilroy did actually get behind the camera and directed not one, not two, but FIVE episodes of the spy-thriller.
According to Variety, Tony Gilroy directed the pilot episode of the series along with an additional four, “…was created by “Rogue One” co-writer Tony Gilroy, who also directed five episodes of the series, including the pilot”, the addition of the Bourne filmmaker to the directors list is certainly a surprise given past reports, but also that Gilroy himself previously stated that each announced director handled three episodes of the series and that structure influenced the second season of the series. Those directors are Benjamin Carron (The Crown, Sherlock), Susana White (The Deuce, Billions), and Toby Haynes (Doctor Who, Black Mirror), with Carron believed to be directing the additional three episodes unaccounted for.
Perhaps it’s a mistake on Variety’s part, which I believe it likely is but that seems quite odd given the credibility of the outlet, their connections to the studio and that they were the ones to originally report that Gilroy was stepping back from directing duties due to the pandemic. Tony Gilroy did write the pilot of the series, and wrote four additional episodes, which is where I believe Variety has gotten things a little mixed up. If Gilroy is onboard as a director then I’m even more excited for the series given his past directorial efforts with the Bourne franchise.
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