海角大神

Lucasfilm is not playing around, snatching up-and-coming directors right out of the hands of competitors even as J.J. Abrams preps the massive event film that is聽Star Wars Episode聽VII聽for its 2015 release.

It鈥檚 been known for sometime that there will be聽three聽Star Wars聽standalone films聽released into the theaters to fill the wait in between official episodes.聽Han Solo, Boba Fett and an X-Wing Squadhave been the rumored subjects of the solo films; so far, the studio has landed director聽GodzillaGareth Edwards to helm one of the projects, and today we get word that a second solo film has a director, and it鈥檚 none other than聽Fantastic Four聽reboot聽director, Josh Trank.

In a statement released by Lucasfilm, studio president Kathleen Kennedy and Josh Trank had the following to offer:

"We鈥檙e thrilled to welcome Josh into the family,鈥� says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. 鈥淗e is such an incredible talent and has a great imagination and sense of innovation. That makes him perfectly suited to Star Wars, and for this new slate of movies that reach beyond the core characters and storylines of Episodes I through IX.鈥�

Trank states, 鈥淭he magic of the Star Wars Universe defined my entire childhood. The opportunity to expand on that experience for future generations is the most incredible dream of all time.鈥�

This is another big acquisition for Lucasfilm when it comes to stacking talent behind their solo film ventures. Both Edwards and Trank cut their teeth by making compelling sci-fi films on very low budgets (Monsters聽and聽Chronicle, respectively), while also showcasing a tenacity for visual effects and creative filmmaking techniques born out of low resources and necessity. In other words: they鈥檙e kind of like this guy named George in the 1970s, who made an independent sci-fi film on a limited budget using creative techniques, and ended up birthing a phenomenon. Looking at it like that, it鈥檚 hard as a聽Star Wars聽fan to be mad about either of these appointments (personally speaking).

That leaves us with the question: What two films are Edwards and Trank directing?

Here鈥檚 what was revealed during a recent presentation of Hasbro toy products tied to the聽Star Warsmovies:

• 2014:聽Rebels (Cartoon Series)

• 2015:聽Episode VII

• 2016:聽Boba Fett Movie

• 2017:聽Episode VIII

• 2018: Han聽Solo Movie

• 2019:聽Episode IX

• 2020:聽Red Five Movie (X-Wing Squad)

If this chart is to be believed, it would make sense that these director announcements are following the plotted course seen above. Edwards is finishing up obligations to聽Godzilla聽and has some breathing room聽before its sequel聽to work on聽Boba Fett, if that is indeed his聽Star听奥补谤蝉听project. Trank has to deal with聽Fantastic Four聽up through the first half of 2015, which means he would be tackling the Han Solo movie, which would presumably focus on the character鈥檚 younger years. Unclear is whether or not in taking the聽Star Wars聽gig, Trank has given up his spot directing the聽Fantastic Foursequel slated for summer 2017.

All of this breakdown of character properties and release dates is speculation, of course 鈥� so take it with a grain of salt until something more official is confirmed.

Kofi Outlaw blogs at Screen Rant.