Cassian Andor Disney+ Series Hires 'Rogue One' Writer Tony Gilroy To Write And Direct

Tony Gilroy is heading back to a galaxy far, far away.

After being hired to reshape Lucasfilm's 2016 prequel film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by rewriting the script and leading the charge on the film's extensive reshoots, Gilroy has now been hired to write the pilot for the new Cassian Andor TV series that will air on Disney+, an espionage thriller which follows the earlier adventures of Diego Luna's rebel spy and his droid buddy K-2SO (Alan Tudyk). Gilroy will also direct multiple episodes of the upcoming series.

Variety has the news about Gilroy's new gig, and the outlet says he'll be working alongside Stephen Schiff (The Americans), who remains onboard as the showrunner.

Gilroy was paid $5 million to essentially save Rogue One after Disney didn't like what they saw from director Gareth Edwards' original cut, and Gilroy – the guy behind movies like Michael Clayton, Duplicity, and The Bourne Legacy – openly admitted at the time that the reason he thrived under those conditions was because he didn't have an attachment to this franchise:

"That was my super power. I've never been interested in Star Wars, ever. So I had no reverence for it whatsoever. I was unafraid about that. And they were in such a swamp...they were in so much terrible, terrible, trouble that all you could do was improve their position."

Will that somewhat aloof attitude toward Star Wars translate into a successful spy series? It'll be interesting to see what a more pure version of Gilroy's vision looks like, since the notion of the specific lines of dialogue and character dynamics that he could have changed from earlier drafts has always been a little muddled. Although Schiff is still calling the shots, Disney must have appreciated the fact that Gilroy guided them from a potential disaster to a billion dollar grosser with their first live-action Star Wars spin-off, so it's not too surprising that he's back in this capacity.

We still don't know much about the Cassian Andor series so far, but we do know that it will focus on the Rebel spy during the formative years of the alliance. The show takes place before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the early moments of that film revealed a glimpse of Cassian's complicated moral compass when he murdered one of his sources before they were discovered by Stormtroopers. Was Cassian more of a straight-laced do-gooder in the early days, or was he always willing to get his hands dirty in order to advance the causes he fights for? Perhaps we'll find out.

We aren't sure about an official premiere date yet, but according to Variety, Disney has previously indicated the show will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2021.