Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars spin-off film has lost its writer, Gary Whitta.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gary Whitta has left the currently untitled Star Wars spin-off directed by Gareth Edwards, director of Godzilla.
Edwards had been working with Whitta on the project and had completed the first draft of the script before departing. LucasFilm will soon hire a writer to replace him.
Whitta is reportedly quickly moving on to his next project. It’s currently not known what that project is, but it could be his announced adaptation of Starlight, based on Mark Millar’s sci-fi comic book mini series.
“The year I spent working with Lucasfilm on this Star Wars film has been by far the most rewarding period of my entire career,” Whitta said in a statement. “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.”
It’s Whitta’s deep-rooted Star Wars love as seen in the above image that makes this departure so unexpected. Assuming that Whitta is truly leaving the project by choice, it’s hard to see why he would decide to leave.
“Gary has been a wonderful, inspired contributor and I enjoyed working with him tremendously,” Edwards said in an official statement. “I’m so grateful for all of his contributions.”
Following the departure of Michael Arndt from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this makes the two out of two Star Wars films that have lost their original writer. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
I’m not too saddened by Whitta’s departure. The two films that he previously wrote The Book of Eli and After Earth (the latter with M. Night Shyamalan), and those scripts weren’t great. If his departure means a better script, it’ll be good to have a different writer.