Rogue One [Official Info] Gareth Edwards to Direct first Spin Off !

The director sounds perfect, and his work shows that he's very talented.

Gary Whitta? Haven't seen the Book of Eli, but has a poor critical response. After Earth? Terrible film. Although one has to wonder if M. Night Sham was responsible for screwing up Whitta's work on the screenplay.

People here know that I think the screenplay is just as important as the director, and Whitta? I'm not exactly sure why Disney picked him.

Here's hoping Edwards can pick up the slack, if necessary.

 

Excited about Gareth Edwards, loved Godzilla ... kinda fearing Gary Whitta though (the guy got a Razzie for his bad writting for After Earth, haven't seen it yet, so can't judge for myself though) only seen Book of Eli which wasnt my cup of tea writing style wise though there's was many worse films writing wise along the same vein. But the director seems to understand Star wars dialog, so maybe he'll stear him in the right direction or just do late edits to in while filming.

 

Or heres hoping that he just had the best screenplay/pitch

 

I don't know much about either the writer or the director, but these quotes make me excited:

"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.

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."

These are the type of people I want writing the spin-offs. People like us who grew up with Star Wars and were heavily influenced by it. Whether or not that translates into a good movie, I am at least confident they will be passionate about the movie and give it their all. It won't just be a paycheck.

 

As a fan of both Monsters and the new Godzilla film, I'm beyond stoked that Gareth Edwards is doing a Star Wars film. Even if it's just a spin-off. He has a great blend of art-house and blockbuster in his directing. If nothing else, expect his film to look gorgeous. Dude knows how to do some wonderful cinematography.

 

After Earth, which I was forced to watch with my friend's family, was better than I expected, but still not a good movie. The way the characters delivered their lines was atrocious, and I need to take a closer look to see if it was the dialogue itself, or just the delivery. I remember almost laughing at Will Smith whenever he spoke.

Haven't seen Book of Eli, but the critical consensus is that it has some interesting ideas for an overdone genre, but reaches too high. If we were judging off that film alone I'd be more open about giving Whitta a chance. After Earth really scares me...and I try to be one of the positive ones here.

 

Yeah, why not Michael Arndt? I hope the Hollywood Report is going on a false scoop. There are so many other gifted writers out there that should be writing one of these films. Gary Whitta is NOT an inspired choice. I was afraid that this mad dash to release a SW movie every year until the end of time could cause some quality control issues.

 

I pray that Disney grows a conscience and releases Gary Whitta. You'd want a screenwriter that won a RAZZIE?

 

Seems to me they want sci-fi directors/writers that are fresh blood, and I can't say I blame them. I'm cool with it. It's JUST a standalone film. It's not the end all, be all. I am sure it will be up to snuff. Could it really be worse than the Clone Wars pilot movie???

 

It's on the official site.

 

Considering he has already added it to his twitter bio, I would say Gary Whitta got the job, LOL. However, that doesn't mean there aren't other opportunities for other films down the line.

I think they should've gone for a 1-2 all-star punch for the 1st spinoff, and give it to these young bloods as we progress. Who wouldn't want to see an Alfonso Cuaron directed, Michael Arndt written standalone!!???

 

Oh man, don't remind me. I was turned off to the Clone Wars for years after that.

 

If we go by the rumored schedule "leaked" last week then this will be a Boba Fett movie. My theory is that it will focus on a new character or group of characters. Fett wouldn't work as the main focus of a film IMO. This new character will be who the audience identifies with & can relate to. Fett will be the co lead, a character who begins as a threat to the "hero" but eventually comes around to his side. If you're going to have a Boba Fett movie surely it will be about what the guy does for a living: bounty hunting. What jumps out at me is a Star Wars take on the film A Midnight Run. Fett hunts down & captures this nice guy type of character bcs a crime lord has a bounty on his head. We then get a "road" movie scenario where they have a dangerous adventure as Fett tries to get him to his destination while fighting off other bounty hunters & possibly avoiding the Empire, who are all also after this guy. Maybe along the way they get caught in the crossfire of a battle between the Rebels & The Empire. As the story progresses the two slowly develop a rapport & by the end Fett is sympathetic to the guy's cause.

Wouldn't surprise me if it's something along these lines.

 

After Earth is one of the worst films ever made, in the history of cinema. Let's hope and pray that it wasn't his fault.

And yes, Michael Arndt would do just fine. Maybe he figures he's cashed enough SW checks, and is burnt out from his experience on SW 7? They did seem to take his work and toss it into the trash.

 

Don't feel bad, it did the same thing to me. To the point that I refused to watch ANY of the Clone Wars until around the time Disney purchased SW, and some of my FB friends encouraged me to do so. It was improved 1000%. That pilot is one of the worst things I've ever seen.

 

So was the Lawrence Kasdan "Man With No Name" Boba Fett film a farce, then? Wouldn't this be the Han Solo spinoff?

 

Isn't Avatar 2 coming out in December 2016?

 

I'm a bit skeptical of the spin-off stuff. Super excited about VII though.

To those wishing for a Yoda or Boba Fett movie:

We all love Yoda. But there are issues with him. He's like 3 feet tall, computer generated, and he talks backwards (so much so that a lot of his lines in the Prequels were a bit hard to listen to). Now imagine him being the main featured character of the film...for 2 hours. Has any film ever had a CG alien main character anyway? Sure you could say something like Guardians of the Galaxy is going to have crazy aliens, but there is a human thrown into the mix and he will probably be the relatable one with the most screen time or lines. So even though I guess Disney may love Yoda so much they want to expand his story, I'm just not sure I could stand a full movie of Yoda doing his own thing. He just screams 'supporting character.'

Boba Fett has a similar problem despite being totally different from Yoda. He's a guy with a helmet on. So that means throughout most of the film you couldn't see his face (his emotions, what he may be thinking, his reactions to things). I mean sure they pulled off Darth Vader, but in the original trilogy he's arguably not the main character. He's the focus of the prequels, but he was only in his suit for a few minutes. I guess they could pull an Iron Man and do some creative shot of his face being inside the helmet....but I dunno. Don't get me wrong Boba Fett is a bad ass. But he's a bad guy who had like 15 minutes of screen time in the old trilogy (and supposedly died film-wise). So yeah...just not sure he could carry a whole movie.

And that's the whole point. Star Wars films aren't about one character ever. They're about huge wars...two big forces fighting one another.

I guess I'll give them Han Solo, but I know a lot of people will be butt hurt to see a new actor play the role. So that may not be an easy thing to pull off either...

Just my take on it! I'd honestly rather see spin-offs of VII itself, like the Marvel films, so everything is interwoven into a bigger connected story. Even if these are new characters they have to introduce.

 

Okay, my faith in this guy has increased, a lot.

 

The Book of Eli was a good (not great) film. Very dystopian. I liked the look/feel of the film. Also liked that Dan Inosanto was the fight choreographer. Gary Oldman played a promising villain, and Denzel was pretty good as well, if anybody was mediocre, it's probably Mila Kunis. I didn't find the writing to be a problem.

 

I never expected/considered the Clone Wars pilot movie to be on the same level as the live action films (and I think it would've been better received if stayed tv movie and not a feature film). The same way I don't think the Ewok Adventure tv movies are on the same level as the OT films. I'm just get the impression that Disney is giving the spinoffs a half-hearted approach.

 

Well Kasdan isn't writing this as far as we know. I think his idea was a bit out there & would cause continuity problems. For one thing we know from the current version of ESB that Fett has the voice of the original Jango/Boba. So how does that make sense if it's some other guy in the suit? My thinking is that it was an interesting concept but won't happen.

 

You are right on about Alfonso Cuaron directing a spinoff (and Michael Arndt writing). I hope, at least, maybe Disney will add a couple extra writers to the upcoming 2016 film.

 

Some links that might offer some insight into some of Whitta's Star Wars opinions:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=20567455
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10617593&postcount=28
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=20631341&postcount=984
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=31023708&postcount=3814
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=30637794&postcount=2052
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11318264&postcount=1707
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=30621657&postcount=1947
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=30638345&postcount=2059
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=31052935&postcount=4125