Will Gareth Edwards Return To The ‘Star Wars’ Universe After ‘Rogue One’?

Over the course of just three films Gareth Edwards has already established himself as one of the best action directors currently working in cinema. The British director has gone from working on the low budgeted 2010 sci-fi monster film Monsters, which launched his career, to the Godzilla reboot, before achieving his childhood dream by directing his very own Star Wars film in the shape of Rogue One.

Rogue One proved to a big success for Gareth Edwards, too, as it grossed $1.053 billion at the box office as well as receiving hugely impressive reviews that resulted in it scoring 85 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. But, following this success, what are the chances that Gareth Edwards will return for another Star Wars film?

Gareth Edwards was asked just that earlier this week during a Bafta Cymru event to celebrate the patron saint of Wales, which was also attended by Wales Online. And all Gareth Edwards could admit was that when you’re asked to direct a Star Wars film it’s impossible to turn down.

However he also acknowledged that, after directing Rogue One, the opportunity should be given to another filmmaker.

“I love Star Wars. You can’t say no to making a Star Wars film, it’s like winning the lottery. But you need to give other people a chance to direct a Star Wars film – I mean, if you won the lottery you wouldn’t use the winnings to buy more lottery tickets.”

You’ll have probably noticed that Gareth Edwards refused to flatly rule out returning to the Star Wars fray. Which is understandable when you consider just how big a fan Gareth Edwards is of the Star Wars franchise, something that he opened up about during the same interview.

But while Gareth Edwards was “obsessed” with Star Wars during his youth, to such an extent that he apparently used to “recite the entire script of A New Hope in the back of the car, including sound effects” during long journeys, he never actually imagined he’d get to direct his own installment to the franchise, mostly because he just assumed George Lucas would oversee every one of them.

Getting to do so was beyond a childhood dream come true, with Gareth Edwards noting that the fact Rogue One leads directly into A New Hope makes it even more special.

“It’s a strange thing. I always assumed that George Lucas would make every Star Wars film and I never, ever thought I’d have the opportunity to direct one myself. I was very much obsessed by Star Wars and any time I had an idea for a film, I’d think ‘I can’t do that, it’s too much like Star Wars.’ But then I actually got to make one. I sometimes wonder if I am living in a virtual reality film. I watched Star Wars to death as a kid and then I get to direct it. A New Hope was my favourite film and then I was able to film the story that leads into that film with Rogue One.”

Gareth Edwards actually originally left himself some room to make a sequel to Rogue One, as he believed that Lucasfilm wouldn’t let him kill off the characters at the end of the blockbuster. But, as Gareth Edwards recalled to The Verge, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy was the one who actually informed Edwards that they needed to die, because they’re not in A New Hope.

“We thought we weren’t going to be allowed to but Kathy [Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm] and everyone at Disney were like ‘Yeah it makes sense. I guess they have to because they’re not in A New Hope. I kept waiting for someone to go, ‘You know what? Could we just film an extra scene where we see Jyn and Cassian, they’re okay and they’re on another planet?’ And it never came. No one ever gave us that note, so we got to do it.”

[Featured Image by Getty/Stuart C. Wilson]