‘Godzilla’ Director Gareth Edwards to Helm STAR WARS Spinoff

With the monster success of Godzilla and the news a sequel was in the works, everyone assumed director Gareth Edwards would return.  While he will helm the sequel and possibly third installment in the Godzilla franchise, news broke that Edwards’ next film will be a STAR WARS spinoff, which will open in theaters December 16, 2016.  Disney CEO Bob Iger had previously announced they were developing three spinoff films, to be released in between Episodes 7,8,9.

Gareth-EdwardsEdwards will still come back to do the future Godzilla movies, but they are still in the earliest stages of development.  So in the meantime, Gareth Edwards will begin work on this unknown spinoff, and with the secretiveness Disney has shown regarding J.J. Abram’s Episode 7, don’t expect any story details too soon.  This is exciting news, as someone who enjoyed both Monsters and Godzilla, I’m excited to see what Edwards does with the beloved STAR WARS franchise.  Here’s the full press release below.

In addition to the episodes of a new Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm and Disney have begun development on multiple stand-alone movies that will offer new stories beyond the core Saga. Gareth Edwards will direct the first stand-alone film, with a screenplay by Gary Whitta. The film is due out December 16, 2016.

Gareth Edwards blazed into the filmmaking forefront with his acclaimed work on Monsters, a film he wrote, directed and served on as cinematographer and visual effects artist. The skill and vision readily apparent in Monsters earned him the high-profile spot directing this year’s smash hit Godzilla.

“Ever since I saw Star Wars I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life — join the Rebel Alliance! I could not be more excited and honored to go on this mission with Lucasfilm,” said Edwards.

Gary Whittas screenwriting credits include 2010′s The Book of Eli starring Denzel Washington. He is also well known as a journalist and editor in the video game industry, as well as part of the BAFTA award-winning team on Telltale Games adaptation of The Walking Dead.

Whitta states, “From the moment I first saw the original movie as a wide-eyed kid, Star Wars has been the single most profound inspiration to my imagination and to my career as a writer. It is deeply special to me,so to be given the opportunity to contribute to its ongoing legacy, especially in collaboration with a film-maker as talented as Gareth, is literally a dream come true. I’m still pinching myself.”

About Peter Towe

A graduate of UMASS Boston, Pete now lives in Chicago where he does the movie thing. This mostly consists of watching copious amounts of movies and attempting to craft his own.

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