Josh Trank: Everything You Need To Know About 'Star Wars' Spin-off Director

Lucasfilm and Disney have announced that Chronicle director Josh Trank will direct one of the three standalone Star Wars movies that are planned. The plot for Trank’s film hasn’t been revealed yet, but it will feature Star Wars characters and won’t be part of JJ Abrams upcoming trilogy, the first of which, Star Wars Episode VII, is currently in production.

Josh Trank's first major directorial role was the widely acclaimed Chronicle, starring Dane DeHaan

The news comes not long after reports that Godzilla director, Gareth Edwards, has also been picked to direct a Star Wars spin-off movie. Edwards’ script will be written by Book of Eli scriptwriter Gary Whitta and is set for release in December 2016. It’s been speculated that Edwards’ standalone Star Wars film may focus on characters including Boba Fett and Yoda, although rumours of the origin story of Han Solo as a possibility have also been circulating.

MORE: Gareth Edwards to direct Star Wars spinoff

Speaking of Trank, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said, “We’re thrilled to welcome Josh into the family. 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.”

30 year old Josh Trank is best known for directing the 2012 feature film Chronicle and is currently working on the 2015 reboot of The Fantastic Four. Chronicle received widespread critical acclaim after its release in February 2012 and allowed Trank to flex his sci-fi muscles. 
Although Trank only has one other complete project under his belt aside from Chronicle, the TV series Kill Point, of which he directed 5 episodes, he has proved himself a fresh and capable director.

It's been suggested the Star Wars spinoff may be concerned with more of Luke Skywalker's adventures

In his review of Chronicle, Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman, praised Trank and predicted a bright future for the young director: “Based on Chronicle, it’s clear that Trank has the right stuff to move up to big-budget fantasy movies. If he wants to, that is. In a lot of ways, he has already beaten the studios at their game.”

It’s not clear yet what Trank’s standalone Star Wars film will be about, although we’d love to hear your ideas. We’re definitely hoping for some more Han Solo backstory from either Trank or Edwards. Hopefully including Lando Calrissian, who is still strangely absent from Episode VII’s lineup.

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