Andor (TV series)

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in November 2017 that Disney and Lucasfilm were developing a live-action Star Wars television series for the new streaming service Disney+.[8] In February 2018, he clarified that there were several series in development for the service.[9] One of these series was revealed that November to be a prequel to the film Rogue One (2016). It was described as a spy thriller focused on the character Cassian Andor, with Diego Luna reprising his role from the film. Production was expected to begin in 2019 after Luna completed filming the second season of Narcos: Mexico.[2] Jared Bush originally developed the series, writing a pilot script and series bible for the project.[10]

By the end of November 2018, Stephen Schiff was serving as showrunner and executive producer of the series.[10] In July 2019, Rick Famuyiwa was in early talks to direct several episodes of the series after doing the same for the first live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian.[11] That October, Tony Gilroy joined the series to write the first episode, direct multiple episodes, and work alongside Schiff. Gilroy was credited as a co-writer on Rogue One and oversaw extensive reshoots for the film.[6] By April 2020, Gilroy had officially replaced Schiff as showrunner.[1] Six weeks of pre-production for the series had taken place in the United Kingdom, but this was halted and production on the series delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12][13] Pre-production had begun again by September ahead of a planned filming start the next month. At that time, Gilroy, who is based in New York, chose not to travel to the UK for production on the series due to the pandemic, and was therefore unable to direct the series' first episode. Instead, the UK-based Toby Haynes, who was already "high on the list" of potential directors for the series, was hired to direct the first three episodes. Gilroy would remain executive producer and showrunner.[5]

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced the series' title, Andor, in December 2020, along with its 2022 release date. Luna was revealed to be executive producing the series, which was set to consist of 12 episodes.[4][14] Luna expressed his excitement at being able to explore the character further in the series after the bittersweet experience of making Rogue One, in which the character dies.[14] In February 2021, Ben Caron and Susanna White were set as additional directors for the series.[7]

In addition to Gilroy and Schiff, writers for the series include Beau Willimon and Gilroy's brother Dan.[1] Speaking to the fact that the series would lead into the events of Rogue One, Luna felt it was "nice to go into a story you already know the ending. Now you can take the nuances and the layers. I think it’s fun to do something that isn’t just about getting to the end. It’s about delaying that."[15] He added that the series was about "the building of a revolution".[14]

Luke Hull serves as production designer on the series,[16] and described it as "very cinematic".[14] Neal Scanlan provides the creature and droid effects for the series after doing the same for all of Disney's Star Wars films, including Rogue One.[17] He said his team was treating the series the same as they did the films,[14] due to Gilroy's involvement the series would fit within the same "pocket of [Star Wars] history" as Rogue One with a "slightly harder edge" than other Star Wars projects.[17] Scanlan added that creatures developed for the films that ultimately did not appear or that only made brief appearances could be brought back for the series,[18] alongside new creatures developed for the series.[14]

Diego Luna was confirmed to be reprising his role as Cassian Andor from the film Rogue One with the series' announcement in November 2018.[2] Alan Tudyk was announced as also reprising his Rogue One role of K-2SO for the series in April 2019.[19] A year later, Stellan Skarsgård, Kyle Soller, Genevieve O'Reilly, and Denise Gough joined the cast. O'Reilly reprises her role of Mon Mothma from Rogue One and other previous Star Wars media.[20][1] Adria Arjona joined the cast in August 2020,[3] and Fiona Shaw was revealed to also be appearing in the series in December,[4] when Tudyk was not included in an official cast list. A month later, Tudyk confirmed that he would no longer be appearing in the series' first season due to Gilroy's story changes, but he could appear in potential future seasons.[21] The series has over 200 named cast members and over 6000 extras.[14]

Filming for the series began in London, England, at the end of November 2020,[15][22] with Toby Haynes directing the first three episodes of the series,[5] and Jonathan Freeman serving as cinematographer.[23] The series was previously reported to be beginning filming in 2019,[2] and then June 2020,[23] but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]