Last year fans became concerned at news of ongoing reshoots for the Star Wars spin-off. While the final cut managed to please both critics and the box office, it turns out the movie saw its ending clipped somewhat. Rogue One director Gareth Edwards, who hasn't seen George Lucas since pre-production, has revealed it wasn’t the tragic ending that changed but an action scene on the way to the transmission tower on Scarif. Speaking with SlashFilm, he said of the original cut: “To transmit the plans, they had to escape and run along the beach and go up the tower.”

LUCASFILM Star Wars news: Rogue One director reveals SCRAPPED ending before reshoots

LUCASFILM The original Rogue One ending saw a long run to the transmission tower on Scarif

He continued: “In cutting the film, it just felt too long. We had to find ways to compress the third act, which was quite long as it was. “And one real, fast, brutal solution was to put the tower in the base, so they don’t have to run across the beach and do all of that stuff to get there. “That became a decision that eliminated the shots you see in the trailer of the back of Cassian and Jyn and the AT-ATs. “That was some of the reinvention that happened. It was all to do with compression.”

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Edwards added: “As cool as many things are, and they really are, you can’t outstay your welcome. “We’ve all done it. We’ve all sat in a movie and even if you love a film, there’s that moment where you want to look at your watch, or you feel like ‘Okay, I hope it ends soon.’ “You don’t want the audience thinking that. You don’t want them to lag. If you feel that when you watch something back, you need to find a way to tighten it somewhere. That was a big win for a compression.” The director also revealed that the film’s last scene of Darth Vader cutting down rebel fighters with his lightsaber was added at the very last minute.

LUCASFILM Darth Vader's lightsaber slaughter at Rogue One's conclusion was added at the last minute