Whilst promoting season 2 of Andor last year, both creator Tony Gilroy and star/executive producer Diego Luna said, in passing, that a theatrical mix of the show had been made, a point made once again at the recent Galaxypalooza convention by Andor editor Yan Miles.
Luna himself even said, albeit with no firm knowledge of what they might do with this Andor cut, that the 10th Anniversary of Rogue One was right around the corner. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Well, since then, over a year has passed and we are indeed around six months away from the December 16th date for Rogue One when that film was released in 2016.
Anniversaries have become a big thing for the film industry. Like lovers celebrating 40 years of marriage, Hollywood continues to feed the nostalgia machine. Back to the Future, Jaws, and heck – even Happy Feet have all received the big screen treatment again over the years. Only this past week has Disney and Pixar announced that Cars will return to the big screen for its 20th anniversary. You get the point. It’s become big business to celebrate milestones in cinema.
Many times, it’s an IMAX limited release in order to lure you off your sofa and into the cinema. Star Wars has been no exception. Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith (especially) have all received very successful big screen returns over the past few years. Sith surpassed everyone’s expectations when it returned to cinemas around the world in 2025 and had Disney turning their heads.
The 50th anniversary IMAX release of the original cut of the original film is already feeling like a must-see event of the year. The anticipation is already palpable. Right now, I’m more pumped about that than Starfighter.
The Force Awakens turned ten last Christmas but it was all quiet for that birthday. There are a few factors at play with this one. No matter where you stand on the sequels, the fallout was real and Lucasfilm/Disney knows it. Them’s the breaks I’m afraid. Disney also didn’t want a small release to take away from Avatar: Fire and Ash which opened just before Christmas last year.
However, Rogue One is a different beast entirely. The powers that be are fully aware that it’s the jewel in their crown when it comes to the Star Wars franchise and the massive critical response of Andor has only added to that.
Which brings us to the 10th anniversary and possible Andor cut.
Firstly, I believe that if they do it, there’s no way it’ll be for the actual release of December 16th. This Christmas is double booked with Disney’s own Avengers: Doomsday and the highly anticipated Dune: Part 3 both releasing the coveted pre-Christmas weekend slot.
Thanksgiving is also a massive release weekend in the states and Disney owns it. Last year’s Zootopia 2 anyone? They also have this year covered with new and original film called Hexed so that rules out then. But there are quieter weekends throughout the autumn.
So, could they do an old-fashioned double bill? Watch a 2-hour cut of Andor, have a quick break, then jump back in your seat for Rogue One. Like most of the anniversary re-releases of films, it’s mostly for a limited weekend or a week at most. They need to create the sense of urgency for you to go and see it.
I also strongly believe that any such cut of Andor will most likely be 99% compromised of footage from season 2. That season, after all, leads us straight into Rogue One.
Promotion wouldn’t cost a fortune for something like this. It would be built in already within the fandom. It could be huge win for Lucasfilm.
The other option is, of course, Disney +. Whilst it would make more sense for a cinema release to gather the dollars, perhaps they want to drive more customers towards Disney+ for the Christmas season, and this could be the perfect way in.
I firmly believe there’s something brewing. We’ve been told, as fact, that a theatrical mix exists and we’ve been told this from many different creatives involved in the project. It’s real. Now, this would have cost money to do. Okay, not a great deal by Hollywood’s standards but nobody works for free and they’ve sunk some cash into doing so. Disney will want to see a return for their time and energy.
Only time will tell but let’s keep our fingers crossed that as we head towards the second half of the year that some great news will reach us in time for Christmas.