10 Things You Need To Know About The Star Wars Spin-Off Movies

3. There€™s Already Been Production Disputes

Since the first movie back in 1977, Star Wars has seen its fair share of production difficulties. The original Star Wars kept facing financial (Fox weren't convinced by Lucas' passion project) and location (the Tatooine leg of the shoot was plagued by sandstorms) problems, while prep for Return Of The Jedi proved so unfocused (Lucas was beginning to care more about marketing than story) that original producer Gary Kurtz left halfway through. Late in 2013, The Force Awakens saw screenwriter Michael Arndt replaced by Lawrence Kasdan, and now the first spin-off has also hit a road bump. Ever since Gareth Edwards was brought on, Gary Whitta was attached to write. But now, with only a first draft complete, the writer's jumped ship. Quite why is unclear - the reports contain nothing but kind words from both Lucasfilm and Whitta, which typically hints at underlying tensions - but it's left the risky project in a bit of a lurch. If the first spin-off movie is indeed a Boba Fett flick, the main difficulty in nailing down a script would be finding a way to turn a character traditionally a villain into a relatable protagonist without changing his personality. Could that have been Whitta's issue? Or could the writer of After Earth simply not been able deliver a good script? The latter seems more likely.