Alexandre Desplat was set to compose the score for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” but due to the reshoots that occurred earlier this year, he has now been replaced by Michael Giacchino.

We have heard for months rumors that Disney executives were not happy with the first cut of “Rogue One” and as a result the film had to go through 6 weeks of reshoots. We still dont know how extensive these reshoots were but I have heard rumors that they may have reshot 40-50% of the film.

It does appear that due to the amount of time that the reshoots took, it created a scheduling conflict with original composer, Alexandre Desplat, and he had to move on to other projects.

I don’t think we could have asked for a better composer than Michael Giacchino, whose list of scores includes Star Trek, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, Inside Out and Zootopia.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

Michael Giacchino, the composer behind such films as the Star Trek reboot and Pixar movies ranging from The Incredibles to Inside Out, will score the upcoming pic, stepping in for Alexandre Desplat, who was originally slated to work on the movie.

The recent reshoots are behind the switch, according to sources.

Rogue One underwent extensive reshoots this summer that saw writer Tony Gilroy take on a filmmaker role during the shoot and the postproduction process as Disney and Lucasfilm sought to clarify story and tonal issues for the pic that is set to open Dec. 16.

But the reshoots also altered the scoring calendar and Desplat, who won an Oscar for The Grand Budapest Hotel, was no longer available. Disney and Lucasfilm then turned to Giacchino, who has a long relationship with the studio and its various divisions.

For Pixar, the maestro created the music for Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up (for which he won an Oscar), Cars 2 and Inside Out. For its live-action film division, he has worked on Sky High, John Carter and Tomorrowland. For Disney Animation this year, Giacchino scored its surprise hit Zootopia. And he’s making his Marvel Studios debut with Doctor Strange, which opens Nov. 4. (With Rogue One, he will end up working for all four of Disney’s film arms.)

Giaachino will now become the first composer to work on a Star Wars movie other than the film series’ iconic mainstay, John Williams, who is slated to return for Star Wars: Episode VIII.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Joe Hogarty