Just two weeks after a director and writer were announced for the first Star Wars spin-off movie, we now learn that Josh Trank has been selected to direct another of the stand-alone movies being planned by Lucasfilm and Disney.  Trank made a name for himself when his debut feature, Chronicle became an unexpected hit, leading him to be hired to direct The Fantastic Four, Fox’s reboot of the popular superhero franchise which is due out next summer on June 19th.

No news of the plot has surfaced yet, but Lucasfilm has said before that the standalone movies will not involve the core characters of Episodes I through IX, and will instead likely be origin stories of other characters.  One thing we can speculate on is the release date.  We know that Disney will release Episode VII on December 18th, 2015, and the release date for the Gareth Edwards-directed Star Wars standalone movie is December 16th, 2016.  With the rumored plan being an official Star Wars Saga film every other year. It would make sense for the standalone movies to come out during the in-between years, making a release for Trank’s movie likely in December of 2018.

Another note: with the hiring of Edwards and Trank for the standalone movies, Disney and Lucasfilm seem to be making a conscious effort to involve the talents of Hollywood’s next generation of young filmmakers.  Trank, just 29, said in a statement, “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.”

The official press release can be found here.