When your studio filmmaking debut roars at the box office the way that Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla did last weekend, people listen. But even given that success, it's still great to hear that Disney and Lucasfilm have Edwards attached to direct one of the Star Wars spin-offs{
It’s not yet clear which of the potential spin-offs the companies want him to tackle, and indeed no-one at the Mouse House has even confirmed which characters might be the focus of the non-trilogy movies. So far, the prime rumours have flowed around Yoda, Han Solo, Boba Fett and even something about Luke Skywalker’s untold adventures.
Said Edwards, courtesy of StarWars.com, "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". Hmm, if he's joining the 'Rebel Alliance' is that a clue to the character story he'll be tackling? Or are we reading too much into a fairly jokey remark?
While we do know that at least three spin-offs are planned to keep the **Star Wars **pipe full between Episodes VII, VIII and IX, everything else about them is a mystery besides the fact that X-Men: Days Of Future Past writer/producer Simon Kinberg and **Episode VII **co-writer Lawrence Kasdan have been overseeing their development and The Book Of Eli/After Eart****h's Gary Whitta is specifically on boards to script the film Edwards is set for. Whitta's credits give us pause, but we'll keep our fingers crossed.
Whitta added, "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."
Star Wars is yet another feather in Edwards’ cap, coming after the indie success of Monsters and Godzilla’s stomping of the competition. He’s attached to any potential Godzilla sequel – which Warner Bros. and Legendary have already confirmed is in development – but it’s early days for that, with no script in existence just yet. So it’s entirely possible that Edwards could head to a galaxy far, far away before coming back down to Earth for another bout with the big G.
S****tar Wars: Episode VII, which has just kicked off shooting in Abu Dhabi with J.J. Abrams calling the shots, is out on December 18, 2015. You can bid for a walk-on role in the film via a charity appeal here.[[Poll1119]]