Just three days ago we received word that Gary Whitta had left his duties as screenwriter on the first STAR WARS SPIN-OFF film slated for release next year. The comments from Whitta made it sound like an amicable split, much more than could be said about when Michael Arndt left EPISODE VII. But, with over a year to go, we expected there to be some time between Whitta's departure and another writer joining the project. Now it looks like we may know sooner than later.
SlashFilm claims to have a source that says Simon Kinberg will replace Whitta on the Gareth Edward's film. When verifying with the studio, this was the reply.
Lucasfilm would not comment on this story and requests to Kinberg’s representation were unanswered as of press time. For that reason, we’re labeling this a rumor but we’re confident it’s true.
While this is far from a confirmation in either way, this does raise a whole bunch of other questions. Way back when Kinberg and Lawrence Kasdan were brought in as producers, we learned each of them would be scripting a standalone STAR WARS SPIN-OFF. When Arndt left EPISODE VII, Kasdan stepped up with J.J. Abrams to write that screenplay. There was no word that Kasdan would no longer be working on a standalone project, though. Now, with Whitta gone, and the assumption being that Kinberg was writing the 2018 Josh Trank standalone movie, is Kinberg switching projects or doing both?
Either way this goes, we still have no idea if Gareth Edwards‘ STAR WARS SPIN-OFF is about Han Solo, Boba Fett, or any of the other countless plot rumors we have heard. If EPISODE VII is a gauge, we may not know for certain until later this year.
The first STAR WARS SPIN-OFF is slated for release December 16, 2016.