Gareth Edwards has been gifted the keys to another alternate universe.
The
Godzilla director, whose reboot of the classic monster tale has already gobbled up $216 million worldwide, has been chosen to helm one of Disney's promised
Star Wars films that will stand alone from the planned trilogy that picks up where
Return of the Jedi left off.
The news was posted Thursday on the
official Star Wars website.
Gary Whitta (
The Book of Eli) is writing the screenplay.
"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," Edwards said in a statement.And the as-yet untitled film already has an announced release date—Dec. 16, 2016.
Merry Christmas!
Godzilla was only Edwards' second feature directorial effort, the British visual effects specialist's feature debut having come in 2010 with the dystopian sci-fi thriller
Monsters.
When Disney first bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion, it was revealed that a number of stand-alone films were being planned that would exist in the same realm but stand apart from the central
Star Wars story line that "began" with
Episode I—The Phantom Menace (which, of course, was released 22 years after
Episode IV—A New Hope, aka
Star Wars).
Meanwhile,
production is underway on
J.J. Abrams' addition to the canon, which reportedly has a working title of
Star Wars: Episode VII—The Ancient Fear.
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