Godzilla Director Gareth Edwards To Helm Star Wars Spin-Off

It’s official - Gareth Edwards has been confirmed to direct the first ‘Star Wars’ spin-off movie… but which character will it follow?
According to an official press release at Star Wars.com, the fledgling British director is set to become the first to direct one of the highly-anticipates ‘Star Wars’ spin-off films.

"Gareth Edwards will direct the first stand-alone film, with a screenplay by Gary Whitta," they explain. "The film is due out December 16, 2016."

Although he’s only just released his first Hollywood blockbuster, it’s safe to say that Gareth Edwards has drawn plenty of attention. And after the recent success of ‘Godzilla’, it’s easy to see why Disney and Lucasfilm would want this new talent at the helm of their first spin-off movie.
"Ever since I saw ‘Star Wars’ I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life - join the Rebel Alliance!" he said. "I could not be more excited and honoured to go on this mission with Lucasfilm."

Of course, Edwards will be joined by screenwriter Gary Whitta… who unfortunately won a Golden Raspberry for his work on the critically panned Will Smith movie, ‘After Earth’.

But don’t panic too much - he was also behind the rather more respectable ‘The Book of Eli’ as well as contributing to the BAFTA award-winning videogame adaptation of ‘The Walking Dead’.

"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," he said "It is deeply special to me, so to be given the opportunity to contribute to its on-going legacy, especially in collaboration with a film-maker as talented as Gareth, is literally a dream come true. I’m still pinching myself."

Of course, there’s still the small matter of what this first ‘Star Wars’ spin-off will be about… and considering the characters already suggested, there’s a certain bounty hunter that comes to mind.

Considering Whitta’s gritty, post-apocalyptic work, it’s certainly no stretch to imagine him penning the tale of a lone Boba Fett - a gun for hire in the barren wastelands of the galaxy far, far away… and with Edwards’ penchant for huge-scale destruction, I can only imagine what the end result will be.

But will they bring Boba Fett to the big screen? Or is it another character getting the spin-off treatment? For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Do you think Gareth Edwards is the right man for the job? Which character will be the first to get their own spin-off movie? Let us know what you think in the comments below…

Ryan Leston is a sci-fi geek from Cardiff who loves all things Star Wars. His favourite Star Wars film is The Empire Strikes Back and he still wants to be Han Solo when he grows up. Follow Ryan Leston on Twitter or Facebook.