Fledgling director, Gareth Edwards has made a huge box office impact with his smash hit Godzilla reboot, which we were quite fond of as well. It would appear that Disney and LucasFilm were also quite fond of Edwards’ reboot, as they’ve just hired him to helm the first Star Wars movie spin-off, set to release in 2016. The spin-off also recently hired a writer behind Telltale’s The Walking Dead video game, Gary Whitta. Whitta has provided movie screenplays for The Book of Eli and After Earth previously.
With a director and writer in place, Disney has set a release date for the untitled Star Wars spin-off, which will come to theatres on December 16th, 2016. It will provide an expansion of the Star Wars universe, and help to bridge the events of 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII, and the successive Star Wars: Episode VIII. Beyond that however, no details for the spin-off have come to light at this time.
Recently, Disney unveiled the final cast for Star Wars: Episode VII, which includes classic trilogy veterans, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew and Carrie Fisher, reprising their roles as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Leia Organa respectively. Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker are also said to be returning to their fan-favourite droid roles, C-3PO and R2-D2 respectively. Both have continued to play these parts in every bit of Star Wars media since the original Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, with Daniels even making a cameo appearance as a LEGO C-3PO in this past February’s exceptional family blockbuster, The LEGO Movie.
While it was initially speculated that Edwards directing a Star Wars spin-off may put Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures in a tight spot with their recently-announced Godzilla sequel, the studios have both confirmed that they will be allowing Edwards to direct the untitled Godzilla sequel after he’s finished work on his untitled Star Wars project. Edwards is also apparently attached to direct a third movie for a planned Godzilla trilogy as well.
Despite Legendary now inking an exclusive movie distribution deal with Universal, they will continue to work with Warner Bros. on the new Godzilla franchise, along with Edwards. This provides some additional hope regarding a planned sequel to Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ other well-received monster movie, Pacific Rim, which was previously thought to be in legal jeopardy after Legendary defected to Universal.
What do you think of the Godzilla director helming a Star Wars movie? What do you think the spin-off may focus on? As usual, your comments are welcome below.
Eggplante is continuing to analyze your news and updates on Godzilla and Star Wars.