Star Wars: X-Men Writer Set To Pen The Next Film

While most Star Wars-related attention is inevitably focused on JJ Abrams'The Force Awakens, which arrives in cinemas on December 18th 2015, Lucasfilm will be ramping up production on the first of its standalone movies later this year, with the next adventure due in 2016.

Gareth Edwards -- fresh off the back of his success with Godzilla -- is helming the film, which is due in cinemas at the end of 2016. And earlier this week its writer, Gary Whitta, departed the project. It was an amiable departure, with Whitta having spent many, many months putting together a screenplay draft. But now it seems that draft is being passed over to someone else to turn into a finished screenplay.

That somebody else is set to be Simon Kinberg. He's already been consulting on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and is one of the creative driving forces behind recent X-Men movies. He's been working on the script for X-Men: Apocalypse of late.

Slashfilm broke the story of Kinberg's involvement in 2016's Star Wars film, although Lucasfilm hasn't confirmed it as of yet. The movie is reportedly about bounty hunters who steal plans for the very first Death Star, with the film likely to be set before A New Hope. Which would make it another prequel, if true.

More news on Gareth Edwards'Star Wars film as we hear it.

Slashfilm