It's been well-documented that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story underwent a lot of changes before finally making it to the screen in 2016, with multiple writers coming on in an attempt to "save" the movie and extensive reshoots ordered which reportedly altered quite a lot of the original plot.
Director Gareth Edwards has spoken briefly about the reshoots in the past, but during a new interview with Variety, The Creator filmmaker finally addressed the more negative aspects of his experience, indicating that he may not have had a lot of control over the direction the movie was taken in by the end.
"The way you make a film is as important as its screenplay. I would take full control over the process and a mediocre screenplay over a really good screenplay and zero control over the process."
Edwards is far from bitter, however, and believes he is very "lucky" to have been given the opportunity to leave his mark on the Galaxy Far, Far Away.
"Look, the only thing I can say is I was incredibly lucky. I got to make a Star Wars film. I won the lottery, in that sense. The idea of someone as privileged as me in any way implying that it was anything other than the amazing experience that it was to some extent – like, I don’t have any empathy for that person, and I don’t want to be that person either."
Despite its production problems, Rogue One was actually very well-received by critics (84% on Rotten Tomatoes) and went on to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
"Former scientist Galen Erso lives on a farm with his wife and young daughter, Jyn. His peaceful existence comes crashing down when the evil Orson Krennic takes him away from his beloved family. Many years later, Galen becomes the Empire's lead engineer for the most powerful weapon in the galaxy, the Death Star. Knowing that her father holds the key to its destruction, Jyn joins forces with a spy and other resistance fighters to steal the space station's plans for the Rebel Alliance."
Rogue One stars Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, Alan Tudyk as K-2SO Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe, Wen Jiang as Baze Malbus, Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic, Guy Henry as Governor Tarkin, Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera, Riz Ahmed as Bodhi Rook, Mads Mikkelsen as Galen Erso. Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa, Alistair Petrie as General Draven, Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma, and Ben Daniels as General Merric.