Rogue One Editor John Gilroy Explains Why They Pushed the Envelope

Rogue One’s third act took a drastic turn from what we expect in a Star Wars movie and the film’s editor John Gilroy explains why.

Because the film is still in theaters, I’m obligated to say “spoiler warning!” for what we’re about to discuss. As we discuss the third act of the film a little more in depth, just understand that I’m not going to tiptoe around the fact that everyone died.

If you went into Rogue One as blind as possible, the ending might’ve thrown you for a loop. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but I knew once that smart mouth Kaytoo went down, the rest of the team was basically doomed. Without a doubt, it added a lot more weight to the film. But Star Wars doesn’t usually wipe out main characters in bulk like that. Perhaps, what made the ending so terribly satisfying was that each character went out in a blaze of glory. There were so many things happening in the last thirty minutes of the film. From the X-Wing pilots to Chirrut Imwe’s steadfast faith in the Force, everybody played a tremendous role in Rogue One.

In an interview with io9, one of Rogue One’s editors, John Gilroy, explains how they threaded together the final act. Lucasfilm brought Gilroy onto the project a little late once they decided to go in a different direction:

"“It was a very complicated third act. There’s a lot of things happening at the same time. Our characters are at different places in the movie and we’re cutting from one to the other to the other. And you had to keep things clear, but you had to keep things moving.”"

In addition to watching the lead-in to A New Hope, we watched as each new character sacrificed their lives for the rebellion. It was the kind of punch to the gut we feel every time we remember that Luke and Leia kissed each other in a not-so-platonic way, or that the great Anakin Skywalker slaughtered helpless children once. It was jarring.

"“This movie was supposed to be different than other Star Wars movies. They were trying to push the envelope of what a Star Wars movie could be. And when you do that, you try to walk that line. You want to make it different but you also want to very much make it part of the whole Star Wars saga. So trying to find that balance was the biggest challenge.”"

Rogue One needed to balance Darth Vader’s epic arrival, Princess Leia’s cameo, and saying an emotional goodbye to each new character we met and fell in love with of the course of two hours. As Gilroy explains:

"“The emotional jump that you’re making was very well thought out. I was very happy with how we moved people first with the poignancy of the death, then the amazing action sequence which you aren’t expecting and then seeing Leia for a moment knowing that, like 20 minutes later, the first movie is going to start. It moves your emotion to a different direction without manipulating you, I don’t think. It really takes you to a great place.”"

To Rogue One‘s credit, they accomplished just that. At first, you’re devastated by the end of the film. Then suddenly, Princess Leia appears onscreen and reminds us of the power of hope. It was a strange juxtaposition that worked really well. In conclusion, Gilroy says when it comes to movies like Star Wars, “there’s a lot riding on them.”

Boy, if that isn’t the understatement of the year.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is now playing in theaters everywhere.

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