Spin-off stand-alone movies

[Buzz Bumble]

The first of the "off-year" movies has a director and writer ... still no mention of what it's about yet though.

Gareth Edwards and Gary Whitta Onboard for Star Wars Stand-Alone Film

In addition to the episodes of a new Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm and Disney have begun development on multiple stand-alone movies that will offer new stories beyond the core Saga. Gareth Edwards will direct the first stand-alone film, with a screenplay by Gary Whitta. The film is due outDecember 16, 2016.

Gareth Edwards blazed into the filmmaking forefront with his acclaimed work on Monsters, a film he wrote, directed and served on as cinematographer and visual effects artist. The skill and vision readily apparent in Monsters earned him the high-profile spot directing this year's smash hit Godzilla.

"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 & honored to go on this mission with Lucasfilm," said Edwards.

Gary Whitta's screenwriting credits include 2010's The Book of Eli starring Denzel Washington. He is also well known as a journalist and editor in the video game industry, as well as part of the BAFTA award-winning team on Telltale Games' adaptation of The Walking Dead.

Whitta states, "From the moment I first saw the original movie as a wide-eyed kid,Star Warshas 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."

The rumours are movies based around Boba Fett, Han Solo, and Yoda as being the first three "off year" stand-alone movies, but the list in last weekend's ComingSoon.net Star Wars Roundup had this list supposedly shown at a Hasbro training course in Germany:

• Fall 2014: Rebels
• 2015: Episode VII
• 2016: Boba Fett
• 2017: Episode VIII
• 2018: Solo
• 2019: Episode IX
• 2020: Red Five

 

[Borsk]

I generally liked Godzilla. My complaints would be:

• The story was very predicable and not overly imaginative.
• Character development was "meh".
• It felt a bit too long.

On the last point, the comparison I would make is to Man of Steel. I generally liked that movie as well, but it also felt very long due to extended or very similar fight scenes.

The effects in Godzilla looked great. The negatives I've listed don't make me regret seeing the movie, but make it unlikely that I'll want to see it again.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

unlikely that I'll want to see it again.

You'll have to ... they're already planning a sequel. I haven't seen either of those movies and probably won't bother when they appear on TV for free either.


The puzzling on in that Star Wars list is Red Five. It seems unlikely that it would be a Luke Skywalker movie, so who and what is it about?

 

[Borsk]

Godzilla wasn't bad, it just didn't meet my expectations (which were on the high side ... and it wasn't helped by the fact that the 2 actors I was excited to see in the movie had diminished roles). The recent X-Men movie, on the other hand, was better than I thought it would be and I'd enjoy seeing it again.

The puzzling on in that Star Wars list is Red Five. It seems unlikely that it would be a Luke Skywalker movie, so who and what is it about?

If they actually make that movie, I bet the title gets changed. You know ... to something like Porkins.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

More like "Porkies"* (the shortened version of "Porky Pies", the London Cockney rhyming slang for "lies").

Red Five was Luke's X-wing in ANH ... maybe it's about whoever piloted that ship before him. Seems like a silly idea when there's so many other characters to pick from, including the rumoured Yoda movie.

Here's a good idea: they could do a special TV show for Christmas time based around Jabba and done almost entirely in Jabba-nese without sub-titles. They could even have a an animated section and a musical interlude.

 

[Borsk]

Well, I take the title to mean that they want to do a movie about fighter pilots. As far as I know, 'Red Squadron' is more or less the same as 'Rogue Squadron'. I believe Luke could be considered a founder of rogue squadron, so, as red 5, maybe the movie is about him founding it. Or it may just be that they don't want to use 'rogue' because it's from EU (ie they have to pay someone if they want to use it).