Several days ago it was reported by The Hollywood Reporter that screenwriter Gary Whitta has departed from Gareth Edwards upcoming Star Wars spin-off after penning the first draft. He has since moved onto write a script for Starlight based on Mark Millar's comic. Edwards and Whitta go onto to comment on the split:
"Gary has been a wonderful, inspired contributor and I enjoyed working with him tremendously," said Edwards in a statement. "I'm so grateful for all of his contributions. " Said Whitta, "The year I spent working with Lucasfilm on this Star Wars film has been by far the most rewarding period of my entire career. 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."Now SlashFilm is reporting that longtime X-Men screenwriter Simon Kinberg maybe taking of screenwriting duties for the upcoming solo film. Which isn't a massive surprise given Simon Kinberg is already a producer on the animated series Star Wars Rebels
Primary among those questions was, if Whitta is out, who will be taking over the writing duties on the December 16, 2016 release?/Film has learned, but was unable to confirm, that it will be Simon Kinberg. At Lucasfilm, Kinberg is a consultant on The Force Awakens, a writer and producer on Star Wars Rebels, and writer of at least one standalone movie. Whether or not that became this film or is another remains unclear. But Kinberg will be taking over duties for Whitta on this movie.Last rumor we heard regarding the first stand-alone Star Wars film involved Boba Fett and other Bounty Hunters being hired by the Rebels to steal the battle plans to the first Death Star. But this has yet to be confirmed and could completely change now that a new writer has been brought on board.
This is by far the most I’ve ever enjoyed writing a title page. See you in 2016! #MTFBWY pic.twitter.com/Wr3Ij1XUKj
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) January 10, 2015
