Kate Mara Eyed for 'Star Wars' Spinoff; Kaya Scodelario in Talks for 'Pirates of the Caribbean 5'

With Tatiana Maslany, Rooney Mara, and Felicity Jones reportedly testing for the female lead in Gareth Edwards' standalone Star Wars film, a new name has been added to the list. Kate Mara, who will be seen as Sue Storm in the upcoming Fantastic For reboot, has also read for the role according to Variety. At this point details on the film are still few, although rumors persist it will center on bounty hunters. Why not bring all of these ladies on and make it an entire group of female bounty hunters? I'd pay to see that. The film is scheduled to open on December 16th 2016.

And it looks like Kaya Scodelario (Wuthering Heights, The Maze Runner) could join Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Deadline says early talks with her have begun for the female lead role, which she has been a contender for since late last year. She'd be joining Depp, Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites, and the possibility is still out there that Orlando Bloom could return. The film sets sail in July 2017.

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Gareth Edwards' 'Star Wars' Film Targets Rooney Mara, Tatiana Maslany, and Felicity Jones

 So far we know even less about Gareth Edwards' Star Wars spinoff than we did throughout production on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It's been rumored to be a heist movie about bounty hunters and stolen Death Star plans, but right now nothing is for certain except that casting is now underway and three talented actresses are being sought for the female lead.

According to THR, Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's Rooney Mara are testing for the standalone film's female lead. Also on the Lucasfilm wishlist is The Theory of Everything's Oscar-nominated actress, Felicity Jones, although she may be too busy with The Da Vinci Code sequel Inferno to be a real contender. Who would any of these ladies be playing? Obviously that's still up in the air until we learn what the film is actually about.That could take awhile as a new writer is still being sought to replace Gary Whitta who stepped down some days ago. Apparently it won't be Simon Kinberg as previously rumored.

One thing we can take from this news is that Edwards' film is going to be led by a woman, and it looks like Lucasfilm is making an effort to have women play a key role in the Star Wars universe from here on out.

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Simon Kinberg Could Take Over as Writer of Gareth Edwards' 'Star Wars' Spinoff

A few days ago word broke that Gary Whitta was no longer writing Gareth Edwards' standalone Star Wars film, leaving the question open as to who would be replacing him. With production likely to get underway soon in order to hit the target 2016 release date, Slashfilm is now hearing that Whitta's replacement may be Simon Kinberg, who has a hand in just about every geek movie franchise in Hollywood.

There's no confirmation from Lucasfilm on this so right now it's just a rumor, but Kinberg taking over makes perfect sense. Kinberg's been a part of the Star Wars braintrust and is a consultant on Star Wars: The Force Awakens and is working on the standalone features as well. He was also the creator of the popular Disney XD animated series, Star Wars Rebels. Along with his work on 20th Century Fox's X-men and Fantastic Four franchises Kinberg is pretty much everywhere.

The priority at Lucasfilm has to be getting the screenplay finished quickly, and Kinberg is definitely the guy for that. It's rumored Edwards' film will center on bounty hunters attempting to steal Death Star plans, which could be an amazing story if done right. Production is expected to begin later this year at Pinewood Studios.

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Gary Whitta No Longer Writing Gareth Edwards' 'Star Wars' Spinoff

Of all the nasty stuff that came out during the endless Sony hacking scandal, my favorite was the leaked email between Columbia Pictures' Michael De Luca and Sony's Amy Pascal where they rip into screenwriter Gary Whitta. It was hilarious and totally random, but not completely undeserved given he wrote After Earth.  Whitta is still a very in-demand writer and has been working on Gareth Edwards' Star Wars spinoff for the past year, but now he's exiting that project in what appears to be an amicable split.

THR first reported the news only to have Whitta confirm it on Twitter...

My year of work in a galaxy far, far away is done! I’m onto my next project, adapting @mrmarkmillar’s STARLIGHT for 20th Century Fox!
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) January 10, 2015

Starlight is something we learned about last fall when Whitta came aboard the adaptation of Miller's comic which centers on a former superhero called out of retirement to save the universe. Whitta wrote the first draft of the standalone Star Wars movie's screenplay and now a new writer will likely be hired to give it another go in time for a December 2016 release. As for plot details they remain scarce at this time but rumors suggest it could center on bounty hunters and be more of a heist movie.

This also doesn't appear to be a "creative differences" issue like we saw when Michael Arndt was replaced by JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Edwards had nothing but good things to say about Whitta and vice-versa...

Edwards: “Gary has been a wonderful, inspired contributor and I enjoyed working with him tremendously. I’m so grateful for all of his contributions. ” 

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Rumor: Aaron Paul attached to Han Solo 'Star Wars' Spinoff

Next to all of the rumors surrounding Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the next closest cause for wild speculation has been the Star Wars spinoff movies. We still know precious little about any of them despite a number of theories that have been thrown around. Will they be about Yoda? Boba Fett? Some new characters from the Star Wars universe? Or perhaps even a young Han Solo?

The latest rumor to emerge from a source at Making Star Wars suggests it will be Han Solo at the center of Gareth Edwards' spinoff movie  arriving in 2016, rather than a film on Boba Fett and other bounty hunters which has also been mentioned. The production on the Solo film would "overlap" with Star Wars: Episode VIII somehow, and apparently Aaron Paul is in the mix for a role. He wouldn't necessarily be playing a young version of Solo, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. Maybe they could get Ellen Page? After all she read Solo's lines in Jason Reitman's live table read of  of The Empire Strikes Back, which Paul was also a part of as Luke Skywalker. Okay, that may be too much of a stretch even for Star Wars fans.

Keep in mind these are all just rumors for now, but if the film is really to arrive in 2016 we should be learning more soon.

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Gareth Edwards to Direct First 'Star Wars' Spinoff Coming in 2016

And the meteoric rise of director Gareth Edwards has just gone up to another level. Having started off with the small-budget creature feature, Monsters, he jumped from that into Godzilla, which last week had one of the year's biggest openings and already totals more than $200M. While talk of a sequel has already begun, Edwards may be too busy heading to a galaxy far far away.

Lucasfilm has tapped Edwards to direct the first of their Star Wars spinoffs, now set for release on December 16th 2016. This fits with the overall plan of alternating between official trilogy films, with J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII arriving in December 2015, and spinoffs following other characters in the Star Wars universe. While we don't know the plot of Edwards' film, we do know that Gary Whitta will be writing the screenplay. Whitta wrote the critically-reviled, Razzie-nominated screenplay for Will Smith's After Earth, but he also wrote a solid script for The Book of Eli.  Han Solo, Boba Fett, and Yoda are all rumored to be getting their own solo films but we don't know if those are what Edwards has agreed to.

Edwards has shown he has a great eye for visual effects whether working on a tight budget or a large one, so this is pretty exciting news. Here's the full press release:


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 out December 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 Whittas screenwriting credits include 2010s 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 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.”

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