The lights are on
The writer of one of the most dramatic game series of the past few years, Telltale's The Walking Dead, has won the prestigious job of writing a just-announced Star Wars spin-off film.
The Hollywood Reporter was first with the news that there is a new Star Wars film - one that is not a part of the upcoming trilogy being directed by J.J. Abrams - to be released in 2016. The big news in Tinseltown was that the film will be directed by Gareth Edwards (who has just won huge acclaim for helming the hit Godzilla).
However, for gamers, the draw will be the involvement of Gary Whitta, one of the chief writers on both seasons of Telltale's The Walking Dead. The Walking Dead games were very well conceived, but it is fair to point out that Whitta's film career is a bit more chequered, including The Book of Eli and the disappointing After Earth.
[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]
Our Take:It's a testament to the growing respect that video games are getting in Hollywood that someone like Whitta be assigned to one of the most storied movie franchises of all time. Let's hope it works out for all parties.
great move! love the way this guy tells a story. hopefully some of the wonderment of Star Wars will be revived through this story.
Loved Eli n TWD. Never saw after earth. Looked bad tho.
I enjoyed Book of Eli quite a bit, so I'm pleased to read this. I haven't seen After Earth, but I hope this turns out well.
Very excited about this. I love TWD and After Earth and the new Godzilla which if you haven't seen yet you need to go now and watch it.
YES.
I feel like he's show that he can be an amazing writer and with Edwards directing this movie, it makes me very hyped, just like I was when I found out he was making Godzilla after I watched Monsters.
Funny, I always knew Gary as the "shoot that guy!" guy. And he's been doing some great stuff since then.
Nice, I love two out of those three works!
So we get a director with a limited idea on how to lay out a movie and a writer who has done crappy movies and one good video game... this doesn't sound too good. Really Gareth lucked out on Godzilla being an alright franchise for how he shoots movies, so it turned out pretty good despite lacking a lot of things. I don't see it for Star Wars.
Book of Eli: Yay, alright!
Walking Dead: Mmmmgrhhmmmm...
"After Earth"
We're doomed.
Sigh, I don't think I really cared for anything he's done. Although AE is the only one I thought was crap. Not sure I blame that all on whitta though. Didn't Smith come up with the whole movie premise himself?
Shame too because I really rather like Whitta on the Tested podcasts. I just have no faith his script will be good. But lets face it. At this point I'm not going to get me hopes up for any starwars anything. Go in with no expectations and maybe I'll be fine if they just deliver something watchable.
*** just got real.
For good or for ill. Guess we'll find out soon.
Boba Fett movie?
Book of Eli is a favorite of mine and Whitta has done excellent work for a very long time. It's good to see talented story tellers in games crossing over to major films. Maybe Levine will get his shot at a AAA film one of these days.