Star Wars spin-off to be directed by Godzilla filmmaker

With JJ Abrams kicking off the first of three new Star Wars films, Disney announced on Thursday that Godzilla filmmaker Gareth Edwards will direct a separate spin-off installment of the franchise, scheduled for December 2016.

Updated on: May 23, 2014, 16:20:42 IST

Reuters | By HT Correspondent, Los Angeles

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With J.J. Abrams kicking off the first of three new Star Wars films, Disney announced on Thursday that Godzilla filmmaker Gareth Edwards will direct a separate spin-off installment of the franchise, scheduled for December 2016.

Artwork for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. (Photo courtesy: starwars.com)

The yet-to-be-titled Star Wars film, which is being written by The Book of Eli screenwriter Gary Whitta, is being described as a stand-alone movie in addition to the next three installments beginning with Abrams's Star Wars: Episode VII, to be released in December 2015.

British director Edwards made his feature film debut with his re-imagining of Godzilla, which stormed the North American box office with $93.2 million in sales over the past weekend.

Godzilla director Gareth Edwards. (Photo courtesy: starwars.com)

Walt Disney Co. purchased Star Wars creator George Lucas's production company LucasFilm for $4.05 billion in 2012 and announced it would release spin-off films between the releases of three new films in the popular sci-fi series.

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