Official: Gareth Edwards to Direct and Gary Whitta to Write First Star Wars Spin-Off Movie.

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The Godzilla director Gareth Edwards will helm the first spin-off movie with a screenplay by Gary Whitta. The film is due out December 16, 2016. It was previously reported that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are writing and producing…

From StarWars.com:

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.

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 “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 Whitta’s 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.”


That’s a pretty surprising announcement. Gareth Edwards is definitely a huge talent but still he has only two movies under his belt. They are both monster movies, one of which he practically did all by himself (directing, VFX, cinematography). He deserves a chance and let us all wish him luck.

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The decision to hire Gary Whitta is a huge surprise to many. He also has only 2 movies under his belt one of which is After Earth. I’m not surprised that the official press release left that one out. 🙂
Whitta is also famous for openly bashing the OT Special Editions and the Prequel Trilogy. The guys from furiousfanboys made a collection of his comments and according to them he tried recently to delete them. (click on their name if you want to check their story).

And here’s Gary Whitta’s opinion on Disney’s Jedi Academy:

Weird, right?

Now here’s something you don’t see every day. The studio behind Godzilla issued a congrats statement to Edwards for his new assignment under a rival studio. But after seeing all the comments on Twitter that many Star Wars fans will go and see Godzilla now because of Edwards’ involvement, it kinda makes sense. Good marketing move by Legendary. 

From all of us at @Legendarypic.twitter.com/LzK3tPbQdy
— Legendary (@Legendary) May 22, 2014

Here’s what Legendary CEO Thomas Tull said:

“Gareth’s filmmaking talent makes him one of his generation’s most creative and visionary directors. The plan has always been for Gareth to direct a different film before we started on another Godzilla, but who knew it would a Star Wars installment? We have a great plan in store for Godzilla fans and I am looking forward to seeing Gareth’s imprint on the Star Wars universe.”

According to THR, Edwards is attached to direct Godzilla 2 and 3, but while story ideas exist, the Godzilla 2 project is still in early development and does not even have a script.

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THR also shared their thoughts on which Star Wars character makes the most sense for a stand-alone movie. You can check their article here.

As said before I continue to believe that the spin-off movies won’t be based on Han, Boba or any other character that we know from the movieverse. According to our source they may be used as background stories for important elements from the Sequel Trilogy. Or it’s very possible that the first spin-off movie could be about the Jedi or Sith origins. They also have the potential to each have their own sequels. For that old story click here.

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

Born on April 24, 1980.

Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

95 thoughts on “Official: Gareth Edwards to Direct and Gary Whitta to Write First Star Wars Spin-Off Movie.

  • May 23, 2014 at 7:27 am
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    Obviously going to be a spin-off SW movie about a Rancor! 😉

    • May 24, 2014 at 9:57 pm
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      A Rancor’s life… We eat, we die from jedi’s

    • May 25, 2014 at 9:37 am
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      Obviously, its going to be the Zillo Monster Strikes Back! 🙂

      But seriously, I would like to see an Obi-Wan film set between ROTS and ANH. I believe there’s a Boba Fett movie being worked on also.

  • May 23, 2014 at 7:38 am
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    Thanks, Viral Hide! I’ve been waiting hours for you to make this official! 😉

    • May 23, 2014 at 7:45 am
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      Yeah, time difference is a bitch. I’m in Europe. The other two authors are from the US but obviously they had better things to do. 🙂

    • May 23, 2014 at 7:56 am
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      Haha! Yup. 🙂

  • May 23, 2014 at 7:41 am
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    Whitta is a good writer, even if he is… kinda a hack

    • May 23, 2014 at 7:46 am
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      I’m 50/50 on him. Loved Book of Eli, hated After Earth.

    • May 23, 2014 at 8:32 am
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      He’s done some good video games… And I’m pretty sure everyone hated that piece of crap movie

    • May 23, 2014 at 12:52 pm
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      Sincerely, in the world of writers Whitta probably is the worst choice i can imagine to write a Star wars movie. For god sake, we are talking about star wars. Please.
      There are thousands of writers in the world and For a Star wars movie they have to choose Whitta.
      I really can’t understand, really.
      after earth and video games…..it’s just…i don’t know…it’s…..why not choose….ooooo for god sake!

    • May 23, 2014 at 1:10 pm
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      I don’t know if it was the story that made AE suck, or Jaden Smith:/

    • May 23, 2014 at 2:24 pm
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      You can’t really knock Whitta down for After Earth. There is about a 97% chance that it was M Night Shyamalan’s fault that the movie was awful. Who knows what would have happened with a competent director.

    • May 24, 2014 at 9:55 pm
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      Yup and casting Will Smiths son

  • May 23, 2014 at 7:56 am
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    Whatever this standalone ends up being about, could we see a giant monster or two somewhere in the mix?

  • May 23, 2014 at 7:57 am
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    Can’t say I’m thrilled about it. It’s obvious that they’re focusing on Episode VII and they’re letting some “new blood” in on the spin-offs. However, I think they should be more selective and hire people who have more experience and better films under their belts.

  • May 23, 2014 at 8:00 am
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    I don’t realy like the spinoff idea. But a jedi/sith origin is maybe okay. Please make the spinoffs on new characters please no young han solo movie.

  • May 23, 2014 at 8:17 am
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    I didn’t like Godzilla- special effects & not much more. And I wish they would do more obscure characters than Boba Fett, or even worse younger Han & Luke, which is predictable and doomed by comparison. How about Salacious Crumb leading his people to freedom after Jabba’s death, or an entirely new character/ timeframe?

  • May 23, 2014 at 8:31 am
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    Could they please stop using the word “installments” to describe movies!!! Sounds like someone is paying off a car…

    • May 23, 2014 at 5:22 pm
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      yeah, I usually prefer the word franchise thats used to produce movies.
      It sounds like some brand-name were you can invest some money and eventually you get back some, even making some profit. Much like gambling or Slot-machines.

      I’m still anxiously awaiting the moment movies are made in multiple versions simultaenously. You know: Franchise: Batman = profitable, slightly exausted. Let’s take some hot actors, put in let’s say 50 millions for each version. Take number 3 brand writer and get the latest director brand-name and let’s sell it, SELL IT! *bangs on table*

      Well my native language isn’t English but you get it

    • May 23, 2014 at 11:38 pm
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      Um… what?

    • May 24, 2014 at 9:46 pm
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      Franchise is worse than installments, franchises are for chicken and burger chains.

  • May 23, 2014 at 8:41 am
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    How to call the prologue (the beginning of the war against the Sith)? Star Wars Episode 0?

  • May 23, 2014 at 9:40 am
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    Gary Whitta’s comments on the Prequels and Special Editions are spot on.

    Don’t know about his writing abilities, though.

  • May 23, 2014 at 9:47 am
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    Just read thr report and they mention solo, fett and Yoda as the most likely, nothing new there. I’m keen to see solo or fett but rather than characters we know or completely new characters we don’t, why not a themed spin-off. This could involve jedi, like the council members from the pt that didn’t get much screen time, bounty hunters the empire gang! or fighter pilots like rogue squadron. Sound any good??

    • May 23, 2014 at 6:53 pm
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      Ya BH”s, RED 5 x-wings, TOR is what I wanna see. About BH’s not just Boba fett but mainly Mandalorians or even Hutts.

  • May 23, 2014 at 10:07 am
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    Please

    Please

    Please

    Please

    Please….

    Let it be a ric olie movie

    They need to know that thats what the majority of us fans want MORE ric olie

  • May 23, 2014 at 10:10 am
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    Ric was such an under used character

    There are millions of us dieing to know his back story

    A ric olie standalone movie would be so special and a real big treat to us fans

    He would be flying around in his silver ship and he could even be giving lessons to other pilots on how to fly the ships! It would be so special i would cry

    Do you think they culd get the original ric to play the part?

  • May 23, 2014 at 10:36 am
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    The first spin off simply has to be a tried & true character like Han Solo other wise your making a movie that only true fans might see…..

    • May 23, 2014 at 12:44 pm
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      and you think Whitta it’s the correct choice to do that?

  • May 23, 2014 at 10:51 am
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    ^^^

    but ric olie is a troed and true character

    There are so many ric olie fans that he would be a massive bix draw

    • May 23, 2014 at 12:27 pm
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      Yeah, when he was telling Jake Lloyd how to control the pitch of a starship I kept hoping the scene would go on forever. Let’s keep our fingers corssed.

    • May 23, 2014 at 12:56 pm
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      I was kinda hoping for a film on a day in the life of FX-7…….Darn!

  • May 23, 2014 at 10:53 am
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    Yeah ric olie and chewbacca has always been my favourite two!

    Like when ric gets put in that painting in jabbas wall it was so special it had my life on such a high!

    • May 23, 2014 at 11:14 am
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      WTF?

    • May 23, 2014 at 12:25 pm
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      You didn’t know that Ric Olie grew up to become Han Solo? Get with it man!!!

  • May 23, 2014 at 11:54 am
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    The naboo pilots movie it will rule

  • May 23, 2014 at 11:58 am
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    a movie with Ric Olie and Jar Jar in love. or better trash all the PT rubbish.

    • May 23, 2014 at 12:07 pm
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      No jar jar he is a rubbish character with no depth

      As i said we need ric olie as his back story will be amazing

      Please..

      Please..

      Let it be a ric movie

  • May 23, 2014 at 12:38 pm
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    Let it be KOTOR

    • May 23, 2014 at 2:27 pm
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      No. We need a really good writer/director combo to write the best story in Star Wars.

    • May 23, 2014 at 8:56 pm
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      Don’t make a KOTOR movie. They would ruin it.
      They should make a movie on the ancient jedi/sith though.

    • May 24, 2014 at 9:52 pm
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      If they made 3 or 6 they’d rock. But pushing it into one would ruin it!

  • May 23, 2014 at 12:53 pm
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    Sincerely, in the world of writers Whitta probably is the worst choice i can imagine to write a Star wars movie. For god sake, we are talking about star wars. Please.
    There are thousands of writers in the world and For a Star wars movie they have to choose Whitta.
    I really can’t understand, really.
    after earth and video games…..it’s just…i don’t know…it’s…..why not choose….ooooo for god sake!

  • May 23, 2014 at 1:13 pm
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    Oh dear. Not a particularly talented nor experienced pair but it’s not part of the main trilogy so I don’t care. I’m not really fussed about the stand alone films anyway.

  • May 23, 2014 at 1:35 pm
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    I’m thinking they’ll have to thrown in the giant beast Starkiller fights on Cato-Nemoidia in TFU 2. Lol. But seriously, I am also excited about the spinoffs. What’s great is with the ST in play, I have no predispositions about the spinoffs which is great. I think the stress level and anxiety of fans will continue to rise as EP7 draws near, hoping it will live up to the impossible hype (I have no doubt it will rock though). But with the spinoffs, I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy a fresh story set in the universe we know and love. I would like to see some obscure characters from the films or better yet, completely new ones for the spinoff films. But I have to admit, a Yoda origin story would be awesome…;)

  • May 23, 2014 at 1:54 pm
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    Judging by this guy’s previous comments about SW, maybe we’ll finally get something aimed at grown-ups.

  • May 23, 2014 at 2:16 pm
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    He will direct a Zillo The Beast movie.

    • May 23, 2014 at 5:16 pm
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      Lmao when would that take place? Pre events of Clone Wars or Post?

  • May 23, 2014 at 2:45 pm
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    The moneys gotta be on solo as a safe bet. I think they will go with one title like star wars: solo. I’d still like spin offs with Jedi or bounty hunters, but this writer is an unusual choice.

  • May 23, 2014 at 3:26 pm
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    Ridiculous, I don’t want any spinoffs. It’ll stretch the franchise too thin and diminish the quality of main episodic films.

    • May 23, 2014 at 4:10 pm
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      Uh oh …

  • May 23, 2014 at 3:46 pm
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    Since early in the 80s were about Ewoks according to episode 6 the next it may be the same way, only now could be the Wookies

  • May 23, 2014 at 3:50 pm
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    As a life long Star Wars fan, and a fan of film in general, I sincerely hope that they change the writer on this one. They did so on Episode VII, so I still have hope. This is a very poor choice for a such a thing as Star Wars. The director is a stretch to imagine fitting such an important role as a Star Wars director, but the writer is unexplainable. Disney needs to take better care of Star Wars than this. I had been impressed with the handling of Episode VII, but this sort of hack writer joining Star Wars is a big mis-step.

    • May 23, 2014 at 8:34 pm
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      absolutely agreed. Well said.

    • May 25, 2014 at 3:56 am
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      I agree. I hope they’ll fire him. Not only he doesn’t know how to write a movie, but he is also a d**k-head.

  • May 23, 2014 at 4:18 pm
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    If Lando doesn’t show up in a Solo spin off there is no way I’d see it. I would rather see a Lando spinoff than a Solo or Fett.

    A Jabba the Hutt spin off could be amazing.

    A “4000 years ago” spin off would be cool or a Russan/Darth Bane spin off. I really didn’t like the games or the novels for either of those subjects in “Legends.”

  • May 23, 2014 at 4:20 pm
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    or a sequel to the Caravan of Courage and Ewoks Battle for Endor!

    • May 24, 2014 at 9:51 pm
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      NO

  • May 23, 2014 at 6:40 pm
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    Viral Hide,

    That mean no Young han solo, no boba fett no yoda? But I swear they said the first two standalone movies where going to be boba fett and young han solo.

    What could have its own franchise of sequels is….TOR….I can’t see anything else that can hold sequels. TOR has a rich history of lore and stories, that can easy be transferred to the be screen.

    Standalone possibilities…
    1.Obi-wan there is 19 year off what we don’t know what he did, but it seems now he will be in rebels so it may explain this period. So a movie with this might not work!

    2.Bounty hunter movie of some kind…They’re part of star wars, so what about Mandalorian’s. Or some kind of crime element… Or even about the Hutts how they got into power or whatever.

    3.Sith/Jedi movie orgins would be great this could have sequels.

    So what don’t we want? LOL

    I think they have be collecting the actors for the first spin-off movie they have had to been. They have to start filming it soon if they want to put it out in 2016.

    • May 23, 2014 at 6:50 pm
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      Me again hey Viral what do you think of a possible RED 5 Movies about x-wings

    • May 23, 2014 at 7:46 pm
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      I believe the initial plan was the spin-off movies to be something different. Not just based on a single character. But later there were the writer shifts. Kasdan was supposed to write a spin-off movie but was moved to Episode 7. And now a new writer was announced for the first spin-off movie. The list of movies revealed a few days ago got some credence after Lucasfilm asked one of the fan sites to remove it. But why just one? And Kathleen Kennedy and Bob Iger hinted that the spin-off movies won’t necessarily borrow characters from the movieverse. It’s a tricky situation and things are always in motion. No one really could tell what exactly will happen.

    • May 23, 2014 at 8:09 pm
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      Agree with your choices anon for spinoff Kenobi, bounty hunters and sith/Jedi, we can live in hope

    • May 23, 2014 at 9:09 pm
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      Not a Red-5 movie series, but a series about X-Wings after the Battle of Endor cleaning up what remains of the Empire. I’ve brought this up before and I do believe this would be a good idea. They could even introduce Grand Admiral Thrawn haha

    • May 24, 2014 at 9:49 pm
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      Red-5 is X-wings, I do agree would be good to do it after ROTJ. Gawd if only Disney bought star wars in early 1990’s LOL

  • May 23, 2014 at 7:18 pm
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    Here is what is coming….
    2015-sw7
    2016-Boba fett
    2018-sw8
    2019-Young Han solo
    2020-sw9
    2021-Red 5

    after that who knows…
    But I think 10 11 12, more standalones..
    I do agree Vader will make his way back to the screen set after sw3.

    • May 23, 2014 at 7:30 pm
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      I just don’t really see how Red 5 fits into the pattern (the larger pattern if you consider this an extension of the Marvel strategy). Can’t help but doubt that one …

    • May 24, 2014 at 9:45 pm
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      Are you kidding….. RED 5 is about X-Wings

      But this isn’t marvel…It’s Lucasfilm/Disney

  • May 23, 2014 at 7:27 pm
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    Salcious Crumb, a one-armed Wampa, an Exogorth, and a Rancor walk into a bar…

    • May 23, 2014 at 11:53 pm
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      Since this guy has done the gigantic creature (Godzilla), I want the Exogorth origin story. 🙂

  • May 23, 2014 at 7:49 pm
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    don’t understand such an inexperienced writer working on star wars..Disney better be very careful…star wars means so much to so many..
    we will just have to wait and see

  • May 23, 2014 at 8:17 pm
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    Given that Star Wars was created and written by a man who has long described himself as a bad writer, I don’t have a problem with Whitta on that level. My problem is that if a Boba Fett movie is indeed what this spin-off film is about, this guy has expressed clearly in the past a disdain for him just as he has for the prequels and the SE’s. Frankly, I’m surprised more people are not bringing that up.

    • May 24, 2014 at 2:06 am
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      “I’m surprised more people are not bringing that up.”

      Could that be because it makes no sense bringing up *ANY* potential leading character for this “stand-alone” film, till that character’s been revealed, at least?

    • May 24, 2014 at 3:29 am
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      It makes all the sense given the reason most of us are here is to speculate what’s likely to happen. It seems there are a lot of people who are wanting or expecting a Boba Fett movie to be the first one; add that to all the other people who have been expressing their desire for one and I would expect some outrage that the likely hood of the guy writing it doesn’t like the character to begin with.

  • May 23, 2014 at 8:55 pm
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    I want to see an Boba Fett standalone, maybe the mandalorians in general?
    OR something about the ancient jedi/sith. I don’t want to see a han solo movie.

    • May 23, 2014 at 9:16 pm
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      Who knows at this point, though I think you are right. I wouldn’t be opposed to a Boba Fett movie, but what would they do with it? I think the thing that made Boba Fett intriguing from the OT perspective is that we never saw the Slave 1 in action, and we never saw Boba Fett behind the mask… but that changed with the prequels. We also had the shadows of the empire comic book, which was a good story and helped fill the blanks in… I mean that’s a lot of Boba Fett. What can a Boba Fett movie do that those couldn’t?

    • May 24, 2014 at 9:42 pm
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      Dude Boba fett movie is already confirmed by Disney so is a Young Han solo movie.

  • May 23, 2014 at 9:16 pm
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    My perfect vision of spin-off movies would be:
    1st A movie about the origins of the Jedi Order and the first Jedi to turn Dark.
    2nd A movie about the origins of the Sith and their first battle with the Jedi.
    3rd A movie about the final war between the Jedi and Sith that ends with the establishment of the Rule of Two.
    And each movie would have one long-lived alien that could connect the three films.

  • May 23, 2014 at 11:18 pm
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    I saw Godzilla last night, and thou it was an ok movie, it was kind no fun inn a matter. I did not laugh on time. The movie kind of was to serious and took itself to seriously. I want movies like that to be fun, have some humor at least. Monsters was the same deal, good movie, but no fun. I really hope he ad some humor inn this spinoff. But its like he lack that skillsett.

    • May 24, 2014 at 2:13 am
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      The important things to see if a director’s any good are the pace of the film, if he got the most out of the actors, the impact of each take in accordance to the script (like if a scene works in slo-mo or not, a well-placed close-up), etc.

      A director can only hope to do his best with the script that he’s been given to work with. All the other stuff you mention is solely the writers’ responsibility.

  • May 24, 2014 at 2:03 am
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    Boba Fett v Han Solo: Dawn of Injustice

  • May 24, 2014 at 3:35 am
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    Saw Godzilla for the sole purpose of seeing what this guy can do with a big budget.
    I liked “Monsters”, but it wasn’t spectacular. Godzilla was the same. Just OK. Nice monsters and some good fight scenes. But nothing really memorable. I thought it needed a bit more of the “freakiness” ( for lack of a better word) of the Godzilla movies…And Fun! Like another user on the board said there was no laughter, or giddiness for that matter.

    Should have had UFO’s vist Earth for a planned annihilation. They wake up the MOTO’s and Godzilla as well. Why? to destroy humanity! But the aliens can not control the Godzilla. For reasons presently unknown. Meanwhile, Two kids stow away (or are abducted) by the aliens and are hiding aboard one of the UFO’s. The aliens are old school “Close Encounter” type aliens. Why are the kids abducted?…. I don’t know….something freaky like the aliens are going to “processed into edibles”….. yea they eat humans. The kids somehow escape and tell the kids father ( who conveniently works for the military) about the aliens and how they control the MOTO’s. Meanwhile, Godzilla is pissed and beating the shit out of all the other monsters…. but wait! The aliens learn how to gain control of Godzilla’s brain. And that brain is the size of a walnut. They than set him on a path of destruction upon humanity. Now the military must somehow block the signal that controls Godzilla. It is there only hope to destro the MOTO’s……and guess what… they do! Godzilla than does what he does best. Kicks the shit out of other Monsters…. and in the process even attacks some UFO’s…. and I’m talking “Flying Saucer’s” here. The military mops up the rest of the aliens. Godzilla retreats back to his watery lair…. the end… put your 3D glasses in the bucket.

    Flame on.

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