Gareth Edwards will direct first Star Wars spin-off

Having steered Godzilla to a thundering return to the top of the box office, Gareth Edwards has now been unveiled as the director of the first Star Wars spin-off film.

The news was broken by Heat Vision , who have also revealed that the film's script will be penned by Gary Whitta, with the project set to open in US screens on 16 December 2016.

"Ever since I saw Star Wars I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life - join the Rebel Alliance!" says Edwards. "I could not be more excited and honoured to go on this mission with Lucasfilm."

Needless to say, no plot details have been confirmed as yet, so we've no idea whether Edwards' film fill focus on Han Solo, Boba Fett, or a different character entirely.

Meanwhile, the news will apparently not affect Edwards' commitments to the forthcoming Godzilla sequels, with Legendary CEO Thomas Tull taking the time to comment upon the future of that franchise.

"The plan has always been for Gareth to direct a different film before we started on another Godzilla , " says Tull, "but who knew it would a Star Wars instalment?"

"We have a great plan in store for Godzilla fans and I am looking forward to seeing Gareth’s imprint on the Star Wars universe." Amen to that…

George Wales

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.