Chris Weitz Joins Gareth Edwards’ ‘Star Wars’ Standalone Pic as Writer

Chris Weitz has come on board to pen Gareth Edwards’ “Star Wars” standalone movie for Disney and Lucasfilm.

He replaces Gary Whitta, who wrote the first draft of the script. Weitz’s involvement shouldn’t delay the start of production for the film, which is set for release on Dec. 16, 2016. Weitz was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the “About a Boy” adapted screenplay.

The film will be some sort of origin tale for a classic “Star Wars” character, with Boba Fett and Han Solo rumored to be possible routes, but more details of the story are unknown.

Edwards has been meeting with women, including Rooney Mara and Felicity Jones, for one of the female roles.

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