Chris Weitz on Writing Upcoming STAR WARS Spinoff Film
There are very few secrets in this world of spoilers and hype. One of the few secrets still out there is what the first Star Wars standalone movie is going to be about. There have been confirmed stories by insiders saying that it will be a Han Solo origins story. Others say it will focus on Obi-Won. Personally, I would like to see the story of Dr. Evazan brought to the big screen. I feel that everyone needs to know why he has the death sentence on 12 systems.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Recently, /Film caught up with screenwriter Chris Weitz at the premiere of Cinderella and asked him a few questions about his current writing project, the Star Wars spinoff film being directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla).
First, Weitz was asked what he did to be chosen as the screenwriter for the film, on which he replaced Gary Whitta. Weitz was also asked if Whitta’s work is still the core of the story. This was his response:
"Well I think it still is the core. But in terms of…in a weird way, it was like meeting for any assignment. Go in, talk about how you work and talk about the idea, but of course there was A) A huge security component to it. I wasn’t able to see the script until kind of after I was brought on board. And B) I saw Star Wars when I was 7 and it was a formative experience in my life, let alone in the notion of filmmaking. I’m probably only working on this stuff because I did have that experience then. But it completely possessed me when I was a child and it was a huge part of my kind of emotional make up. So I tried to be as cool as possible in these meetings while still being aware if I got the assignment I was going to be able to work on something I’ve been dreaming of doing."
Given that Weitz's work is largely reality based, he was asked what we should expect from this film:
"They need to expect everything because it’s Star Wars. They have to. If I don’t do that I’m failing in my job."
It is awesome to know that Weitz is a true Star Wars fanboy. I hope that he and Edwards can bring an exciting new story the Star Wars Cinematic Universe.