The Americans executive producer Stephen Schiff will serve as showrunner for the recently announced Rogue One spinoff series revolving around Cassian Andor. Several years into their Disney era, Lucasfilm continues to find new and exciting ways to expand the galaxy far, far away. In addition to several cinematic projects, they're also in the process of developing two separate live-action television shows for the Disney+ streaming service. One of these, Jon Favreau's The Mandalorian, is currently in production and continues to add big names to its cast. The other was officially announced earlier this month and sees Diego Luna return as his fan-favorite Rogue One character.
Since the Cassian series is so early in development, not much is known about it at this point in time. Obviously, it will serve as a prequel to Rogue One (Luna's even discussed the possibility of digital de-aging), but details remain closely guarded. For now, the priority for the studio is putting together a top-notch creative team to oversee the show, and they've landed a name that should be an excellent fit in that regard.
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According to Deadline, Schiff has signed on to be showrunner and executive producer on the untitled Star Wars prequel. The outlet also notes Lucasfilm is in the process of recruiting a writing team. It's expected the Cassian show will commence filming at some point next year.
Schiff's background makes him the perfect choice for this corner of the Star Wars galaxy. One of the few things fans do know about the Cassian series is that it will lean heavily on espionage elements, chronicling the intelligence officer's time in the fledgling Rebellion. The Americans, of course, utilizes that genre exceptionally well, winning multiple Primetime Emmys over the course of its acclaimed run. During his time on The Americans, Schiff was part of a group nominated for Outstanding Drama Series twice, so hopefully his sensibilities translate well to the galaxy far, far away. Obviously, Star Wars is a slightly different playground than the more adult-orientated realm of FX, but Schiff should still have plenty of leeway. Rogue One made multiple allusions to Cassian's dark past, giving Schiff's team morally ambiguous ground to explore. It remains to be seen how far they'll go, but there's potential here for complex and compelling narratives.
All in all, this is a very encouraging development for the Rogue One prequel and illustrates Lucasfilm is committed to making these TV shows as great as they can be. In some respects, the live-action series are about to become the main attraction of the entire franchise. After Episode IX comes out next December, Disney is planning a slowdown on the movie side of things as Lucasfilm plots their next slate and the Avatar sequels generate revenue for Disney. So all eyes will be on The Mandalorian and the Rogue One show for the next while, and ideally they can carry the torch. Both sound very fascinating and already boast impressive pedigrees.
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Source: Deadline