Josh Trank, director of Chronicle and the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, is having pretty much the best couple years of his young life. At the tender age of 30, this hot-commodity joins Godzilla‘s Gareth Edwards as a director of his very own stand-alone Star Wars film. Here’s the full announcement courtesy of StarWars.com:
In addition to the episodes of a new Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm and Disney continue development of multiple stand-alone movies that will offer new stories beyond the core Saga. The newest director to come on board is Josh Trank.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Josh into the family,” says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “He 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.”
Trank states, “The 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.”
Trank captured imaginations worldwide with his critically lauded directorial debut Chronicle, a fresh and engaging take on the superhero genre. Trank is currently at work on The Fantastic Four for 20th Century Fox.
Since there are basically no official hints swirling around the Internet about next year’s Episode VII, we shouldn’t expect to hear anything about the shape of Trank’s film for at least a year. Disney/Lucasfilm has been eager to announce each and every bit of talent they hire to bring Star Wars back to the big screen, which sounds to be like a “Trust us, everybody! We’re doing this whole spin-off thing right!” from the studio. Trank’s Chronicle was a highlight film when it hit theaters in 2012: most of the characters felt fleshed-out, felt like people with whom I could sympathize. Sympathetic characters whose motivations are understandable and grounded in their context are important to my enjoyment of a film, and since Trank has experience doing just that, I have high hopes for this guy. We’ll be better able to judge Disney/Lucasfilm’s decision, though, after we see what Trank does with The Fantastic Four next summer.
Three cheers for dream jobs!
via uproxx.com