Thanks to pesky reshoots, Michael Giacchino is taking over as Rogue One composer

By Esther Zuckerman | September 16, 2016 | 3:47pm

Aux Features Film

Earlier this summer, reports emerged of reshoots on Rogue One: A Star Wars story and handwringing began as to whether the first standalone entry into the franchise was going to be a disaster. Director Gareth Edwards tried to quell any fears that this news equaled a bad movie, and while we still don’t know whether he’s to be believed, we are learning a bit about how restarting production impacted the film. For one, the music‘s going to be different: The Hollywood Reporter revealed that due to timing conflicts thanks to reshoots Alexandre Desplat could no longer assume the duties of composer so those are going to Michael Giacchino.

That swap doesn’t really imply a dip in quality, though. Both are Oscar winners, after all. Desplat got his trophy for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Giacchino for Up. And while Desplat has experience adapting John Williams’ themes—he took on the last two Potter movies—Giacchino has done a plethora of films for Disney and collaborates with Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams. Let’s just call this one a draw and not start wildly speculating about the quality of this film, due out in December.