The Rogue One Prequel series centered on Cassian Andor has found its writer/director. Tony Gilroy, who served as a co-writer on Rogue One, has been tapped by Disney and Lucasfilm to write the pilot for the series, in addition to directing several episodes. Gilroy joins a creative team for the Star Wars show that also includes Stephen Schiff, who is set to serve as showrunner.

According to a new report, Tony Gilroy is said to be directing multiple episodes and will be working closely alongside Stephen Schiff during the currently untitled show's development. Disney has yet to set a release date for the series, but it's expected to arrive on the Disney+ streaming service in 2021. Diego Luna is set to reprise his role as Cassian Andor, the Rebel fighter we met in Rogue One, as is Alan Tudyk as his trusty droid sidekick, K-2SO. Plot details for the series remain scarce at the moment, but it will focus on Andor during the early days of the Rebellion.

Adding Tony Gilroy into the mix makes a lot of sense, taken at face value. He's an Oscar-nominated writer and director for his work on Michael Clayton and has worked on other major projects such as the Bourne franchise, Armageddon and The Devil's Advocate. But there is another side to all of this. Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) remains the credited director of Rogue One, which was the first live-action Star Wars movie set outside of the original trilogy. The movie ultimately went on to become a huge success, grossing more than $1 billion worldwide and earning solid reviews from critics and audiences alike.

Yet, it wasn't all sunshine and roses. Lucasfilm ordered significant rewrites and major reshoots on the standalone, and Tony Gilroy is largely responsible for what came of that extra work. Initially, Gilroy was brought in as an uncredited writer, but earned a screenwriting credit due to his sizable contributions. He was on set with Gareth Edwards during the reshoots, making sure things went smoothly, and sat in during the editing process as well. It could be viewed as telling that Gilroy is coming back for the Cassian Andor series, and not Gareth Edwards. For what it's worth, Edwards does not have a single directing credit following Rogue One, nor is he attached to anything at the moment.

This series joins The Mandalorian, which debuts next month on Disney+, and the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, which sees Ewan McGregor reprising his role as the famed Jedi, on the live-action Star Wars show front. On the movie side, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20. Then the franchise will be taking a several year break until December 2022. At that point, it's expected the first entry in the trilogy from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will arrive. This news comes to us via Variety.