Tony Gilroy Steps Aside As ‘Cassian Andor’ Director Over COVID-19 Concerns, Toby Haynes Takes Over

There’s been a pretty big change at the top of Disney/Lucasfilm’s Cassian Andor series, and it’s been in the works for a while. And yep, it’s COVID-19 related. Tony Gilroy, who was to direct episodes of the Rogue One prequel series on Disney+, has been replaced behind the camera by Black Mirror and Utopia filmmaker Toby Haynes.

The good news is Gilroy and his family are safe and, as far as we know, have not been diagnosed with COVID-19. However, when the outbreak got bad in March and everything began to shut down, he and his family fled the U.K. where filming on Cassian Andor was to take place. They returned to the U.S. to be nearer to his elderly parents. With a production date looming, and the U.K. undergoing a second wave of infections that has caused another lockdown, Gilroy decided it best to stay home for now. Filming is expected to resume next month.

Gilroy isn’t out of the picture entirely. He’s still acting the overall showrunner of the series, as well as having penned some episodes with brother Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler) and Beau Willimon (House of Cards).

Returning as Rebel spy Cassian Andor is Diego Luna, who met a tragic demise at the end of Rogue One. He’ll be joined by his co-star in that film, Alan Tudyk, as android sidekick K-2SO, plus Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kyle Soller. [Deadline]

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.