Gareth Edwards has officially hit the big time. It doesn’t seem that long ago that Edwards made his ultra-low budget movie Monsters to critical acclaim. When I say, ultra-low budget, I mean that he cast no-name actors and then created the monsters himself on his own computer. I wondered what he could do with big budget blockbuster money.
What he could do was easily discovered when his next movie, Godzilla, hit theaters last weekend to the biggest opening of the 2014 film year. The giant fire breathing lizard, whose last movie soured most people to America’s version of Godzilla forever, made $93.2 million domestically and is already sitting at $216.1 million internationally heading into its second weekend.
That is what Gareth Edwards can do with big budget money. Plus, Godzilla was pretty darn good.
So, what is next for the wunderkind? Well, he will direct Godzilla 2, for one thing. However, before he can get started on where Godzilla will attack next, he has something a little bigger to deal with. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on Thursday that Gareth Edwards is heading to the Star Wars universe.
Boba Fett / Lucas FIlm
Yeah, the kid who made monsters in his own computer will now have the full disposal of Disney and their immense special effects department at his disposal. Edwards will direct the first Star Wars spin-off movie and that movie will hit theaters in December 2016, one year after Star Wars: Episode VII hits.
Legendary Entertainment chairman and CEO Thomas Tull is who broke the news, saying “The plan has always been for Gareth to direct a different film before we started on another Godzilla, but who knew it would be a ‘Star Wars’ installment? 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.”
I don’t think anyone expected that, but seeing what he has done so far, I can’t think of anyone better for the job. There is no word on what he will direct, but the rumors last week were that a Boba Fett movie was coming first, followed by a Han Solo and a movie called Red Five to hit in 2020. That is just rumors, but if it is true, then Gareth Edwards might direct the Boba Fett movie.
How cool is that?