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Fan speculation about his 'Celebration' absence proves correct. Story Matt Cummings Just one year after he was announced to direct an as-of-yet Star Wars spinoff movie (the first belonging to Gareth Edwards' Rogue One ), Director Josh Trank ( Chronicle and Fantastic Four reboot) has departed the project. The announcement was made on Friday by Trank, who had this to say: "After a year of having the incredible honor of developing with the wonderful and talented people at Lucasfilm, I’m making a personal decision to move forward on a different path. I’ve put a tremendous amount of thought into this, and I know deep down in my heart that I want to pursue some original creative opportunities. That said, the Star Wars universe has always been one of my biggest influences, and I couldn’t be more excited to witness its future alongside my millions of fellow Star Wars fans. I want to thank my friends Kathleen Kennedy, Kiri Hart, Simon Kinberg, and everyone at Lu

Director Gareth Edwards reveals plot of the first Star Wars spin-off. Story by Matt Cummings This year's Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California has revealed a bevy of goodness from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens , including a second trailer which debuted on Thursday . But Sunday's wrap-up event focused on one of the spin-offs, namely Rogue One starring Felicity Jones. Director Gareth Edwards took to the stage to discuss his participation about a galaxy far, far away. Among the items featured was this title card - our thanks to SandwichJohn for capturing it - as well as concept art showing an assault team landing during heavy rains: But the focus of the panel was to discuss details surrounding the plot. Apparently, it will take place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope , and will be a heist movie in which the plans for the Death Star will be stolen by a group of rebels. He also added that Rogue One won't have clear-cut villains or

After a series of hush-hush readings and tests, Lucasfilm and Disney have zeroed in on Oscar-nominated actress Felicity Jones for the female lead in the Star Wars stand-alone film. Jones is now in talks to star in the project, which Gareth Edwards is directing and Chris Weitz — who was just hired last week — is writing. Weitz is replacing Gary Whitta, who penned the first draft. Actresses were meeting, reading and testing last week in Los Angeles for the role, with Tatiana Maslany and Rooney Mara among those in the mix. The secrecy surrounding the project is thicker than the mists of Dagobah, and it is even unclear which character the stand-alone is focusing on. Sources say that Aaron Paul and Edgar Ramirez are on the interest list for the male lead. Disney had no comment. The movie has a release date of Dec. 16, 2016. Jones is currently making the awards season rounds for The Theory of Everything, for which she snagged a best actress Oscar nomination for her portraya

After this summer's reboot of Godzilla scared up an impressive $491 million worldwide, a sequel seemed assured … until Star Wars came calling. "Unfortunately, our director Gareth Edwards is locked up in a galaxy far, far away," said Legendary Pictures chief Thomas Tull let us know at Comic-Con. Indeed, after Edwards was selected to helm one of the coming Star Wars spinoffs, Hollywood wondered whether Legendary would press on with a new Godzilla film without him … but in a special video message from Edwards that just played at Hall H, the director thanked fans for their support and revealed, "It means we get to make another one. I'll be back to do Godzilla 2 ." And what might we see in the sequel? Tull showed another new video, reminiscent of Godzilla's opening-credits sequence, when three monsters turn up in classified footage: Godzilla's famous foes Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah . "There is still one secret that remains hidden," teas

He's busy now working with Fox on the Fantastic Four reboot at the moment, but very soon Josh Trank will head over to Lucasfilm for one of the planned Star Wars standalone films, joining Godzilla and Monsters' Gareth Edwards in the ranks of impressive young directors heading to a galaxy far, far away. "We’re thrilled to welcome Josh into the family," says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in a press release. "He is such an incredible talent and has a great imagination and sense of innovation. That makes him perfectly suited to Star Wars , and for this new slate of movies that reach beyond the core characters and storylines of Episodes I through IX.” "The magic of the Star Wars Universe defined my entire childhood," Trank himself adds. "The opportunity to expand on that experience for future generations is the most incredible dream of all time." Details are thin on the ground, but we do know that at least three spin-offs are plan

Fresh off the success of Godzilla , filmmaker Gareth Edwards has lined up his next project, something set in a galaxy far, far away. Edwards is attached to direct one of the Star Wars spinoff films, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Gary Whitta (Book of Eli) is writing the script for the movie, which has a release date set for December 16, 2016, said Disney and Lucasfilm in a statement later posted on the official Star Wars website. Due to the high level of secrecy surrounding the Star Wars development process, it is unclear which spinoff Edwards will tackle. Speculation has focused on characters such as bounty hunter Boba Fett and Jedi master Yoda as those who might be getting their own movies. There are also rumors of a potential Han Solo origin story or at least something on the Solo clan, and untold adventures of Luke Skywalker . "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

The Thunder from Way Down Under is getting a sequel. Story by: Matt Cummings With box office numbers from Friday surpassing everyone's expectations, it was a no-brainer that Godzilla would dominate the weekend box office. Since then, it's done nothing short of breaking worldwide records for 2014 ($196m) and took in an impressive $14.1m in domestic IMAX receipts. As a matter of comparison, Roland Emmerich’s 1998 version grossed $55 million in its Memorial Day opening weekend, $136 million domestically, and $379 million overall. That's not bad numbers, but fans cringed at many elements of the plot and even at Godzilla (her)self. Thankfully, the studio passed on making a sequel, even though it cost only $130m to make. And while we liked it ( read our review ), there hadn't been word from the studio whether we might see a sequel. That got answered on Sunday, when Deadline confirmed that Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have approved a sequel. Accor

After lumbering through the first hour, Godzilla delivers big time. Review by: Matt Cummings It's uncommon for a summer blockbuster to favor story over flashy effects and slow-motion action set pieces, but Director Gareth Edwards's Godzilla pushes convention aside to deliver a smart disaster film that takes a little too long to show our favorite Kaiju. When nuclear physicist Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) loses his wife/colleague to a nuclear meltdown in Japan, he discovers that the event was no accident, but caused by a creature called a MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism). This beast feeds on radiation, tearing down cities and consuming spent nuclear material for unknown reasons. But as 15 years pass, the world realizes this isn't the only problem they must face: a 350 foot monster which the Japanese call Godzilla is hunting the newly-hatched MUTO as part of its prehistoric DNA. Soon, Brody's son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) becomes involved w

With his big visage well and truly out there, and his film due to land in our cinemas this month, Warner Bros. and Legendary aren’t shy about showing Godzilla , though he’s only glimpsed briefly in this new clip from the film. That said, there is some information given away here that constitutes something spoilery, and you get a look at another huge beastie from the movie, so proceed with caution. Watch the clip after the Jump... Providing some context for Ken Watanabe’s oft-heard trailer line about the arrogance of man, here we find his Ichiro Serizawa and David Strathairn’s Admiral Senz wondering what the Big G’s chances are against another massive monster that is terrorizing the local populace. If you’re concerned about learning the outcome, don’t be as this is really just the build-up to a scrap in the film, with Godzilla adopting the giant creature equivalent of a “come at me, bro” stance before we cut to black. Godzilla, of course, finds Monsters man Gareth Edwards d

There are those of you out there keen to see as little of Godzilla as possible in the run-up to release, particularly in the case of the monster himself. That being the case, think carefully about whether you want to watch this latest trailer. Where previous promos have been all about building the dread and keeping the threat as offscreen as possible, this one's all-out war, with new footage offering glimpses of what look like significant action sequences. It only lasts a minute and a half, but still, we warned ya. Watch the trailer after the Jump... So yes. Nothing there to disabuse us of the notion that this is going to be the event movie of the year. Although dare we mischievously point out that Godzilla doesn't seem to have damaged the Statue of Liberty quite as badly as the Cloverfield beast did? And this one's the much smaller replica in Vegas! Monsters' Gareth Edwards, like you need telling, is the director, with a cast including Bryan Cranston, Elizab

Here is an extended look at this summer’s colossal film, GODZILLA . This film series will always have a special place in my heart. The reason behind that is my father starred in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla as Dr. Asimov . It’s fair to say that while the San Francisco tourist board are happy to encourage visitors to check out the city’s many attractions and features, we’re certain they won’t be too pleased that a massive beast is stomping through town causing untold damage. And we do mean massive; comparing this version to the Transamerica Pyramid there in the foreground, which is 850ft. / 260m tall, would suggest ginormity. For comparison, last summer's Pacific Rim kaiju topped out at 181m long, and the Godzilla here seems to be roughly twice as big. Unless, of course, the poster designer has gone a little nuts here and done the monster equivalent of giving him heel-lifts. That’s just one element of the film, which finds Monsters director Gareth Edwards updating the crea

It feels like it’s been a long time coming, but after a couple of years of rumours, producer scuffles, casting announcements and scriptwriter changes, the new version of Godzilla has finally kicked off shooting under the direction of Monsters’ Gareth Edwards . The start-of-production notice also includes a full cast list, with mention that Inception’s Ken Watanabe has signed on. He joins Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn and Bryan Cranston . Edwards, who’s working from a script that includes work by Max Borenstein, Drew Pearce, Dave Callaham and Frank Darabont, started the cameras cranking Monday in Vancouver, where the giant beast is expected to cause all sorts of mayhem. Godzilla, we mean. Gareth’s not usually known for causing mass destruction except when he points a camera at something. His family holidays must be a hell of an experience. After teasing the world with teaser footage at Comic-Con back in 2012, Warner Bros. and Legenda

Run The studio behind Hangover, 300 and The Dark Knight have announced that they will be creating a new Godzilla movie. Special effects juggernaut " Godzilla " has a director with British helmer Gareth Edwards on board for Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. "Godzilla" would be Edwards' second film. He wrote and directed low-budget sci-fier " Monsters ," for which he won trophies for best director and best technical achievement last month at the British Independent Film Awards. Read more after the Jump.. "Monsters," set in Mexico, focused on an alien-monster infestation in a quarantine zone. Legendary had announced in March that it had closed the rights deal for "Godzilla" with Japan's Toho Co., which has overseen more than 25 "Godzilla" films. It also announced at that point that it was aiming "Godzilla" for a 2012 release. In addition to Legendary's Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni, producers on