Josh Trank leaves Star Wars project

Josh Trank has left the second Star Wars anthology film it has been reported, ending weeks of rumors after his absence from Star Wars Celebration last month. The director, who has directed the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, and is perhaps best known for the found-footage superpower drama Chronicle, was announced as director of the second spin-off movie last year.

It had been rumored that disagreements between Trank and the production team had become evident, and although he was due to appear alongside Gareth Edwards during the Rogue One panel at Celebration it was announced at the start of the panel that he would not be attending.

In a statement, Trank said "After a year of having the incredible honor of developing with the wonderful and talented people at Lucasfilm, I'm making a personal decision to move forward on a different path. I've put a tremendous amount of thought into this, and I know deep down in my heart that I want to pursue some original creative opportunities."

However, according the Hollywood Reporter, the director was fired from the project.

The spin-off movies were announced to be called "anthology films" at Celebration, and Josh Trank's film was to be the second in the series, to be released in 2018 between Star Wars Episode VIII and XI. No cast or has yet been announced for the film, but suggested storylines were rumored to revolve around Boba Fett or a young Han Solo.