After losing Gary Whitta, the Star Wars spin-off has found a new writer in the form of X-Men‘s Simon Kinberg.
There’s been a lot of buzz about Gareth Edwards’ upcoming Star Wars spin-off movie, although naturally most eyes are currently on J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens.
The spin-off did hit the news recently when the project’s writer Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) suddenly left; he and Edwards have been working closely to develop the movie together over the past year.
In his statement, Whitta said, “As a lifelong Star Wars fan I’m deeply grateful to have had the rare opportunity to contribute to a new chapter in its ongoing cinematic legacy. The film is going to be amazing.”
His leaving has sparked rumors about disagreements with Edwards and/or Lucasfilm, but the most likely scenario is that the spin-off team has mutually agreed that Whitta has simply gone as far as he can with the script, and it’s time to bring in someone new to polish it up. This happens very often with big franchise films like this.
And today, Slashfilm has revealed the new writer: it’s allegedly going to be Simon Kinberg, who’s been involved as a writer and producer on the X-Men films and – reassuringly – works as consultant on The Force Awakens.
Now, as for the plot of the film, we still don’t have a clue. Rumors suggest the movie will take place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, and follow a group of bounty hunters (possibly Han Solo), as they witness the formation of the first Death Star.
The Star Wars spin-off is set to be released in 2016, in between The Force Awakens and Episode VIII.
We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Write a comment below or submit an article to Hypable.