It was revealed quite some time ago that Gareth Edwards was working alongside writer Gary Whitta on the 2016 Star Wars spinoff which it is believed will focus on a team of bounty hunters hired by the Rebels to steal the plans of the first Death Star (that's strictly a rumour at this point though). However, with a first draft now completed, Whitta has departed the project and a new writer will likely be hired soon. The Book of Eli scribe is apparently moving on to his next gig, and while it's not known what exactly that is, it could be the big screen adaptation of Mark Millar's Starlight.
"Gary has been a wonderful, inspired contributor and I enjoyed working with him tremendously," said Edwards in a statement. "I’m so grateful for all of his contributions." Whitta adds: "The year I spent working with Lucasfilm on this Star Wars film has been by far the most rewarding period of my entire career. As a lifelong Star Wars fan I’m deeply grateful to have had the rare opportunity to contribute to a new chapter in its ongoing cinematic legacy. The film is going to be amazing." An amicable split then, and perhaps something which was always going to happen once the initial draft was completed. Toy Story 3 scribe Michael Arndt worked on a treatment and script for Star Wars: The Force Awakens before J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan took over the script writing duties, so this isn't the first time this has happened. Thoughts on this latest development?