Former video game journalist writing screenplay for upcoming Star Wars movie

Gary Whitta, a former video game journalist and writer on Telltale Games' The Walking Dead, will write the screenplay for an upcoming Star Wars standalone movie, Disney and Lucasfilm have announced. Whitta's screenplay is for one of multiple offshoot movies that will "offer new stories beyond the core Saga." Godzilla director Gareth Edwards will direct the untitled movie, which will hit theaters on December 16, 2016.

Whitta previously served as editor-in-chief of PC Gamer magazine. His screenwriting credits include 2010's The Book of Eli and last year's After Earth. Most recently, he wrote for Telltale Games' acclaimed The Walking Dead adventure game series.

"From the moment I first saw the original movie as a wide-eyed kid, Star Wars has been the single most profound inspiration to my imagination and to my career as a writer," Whitta said in a statement. "It is deeply special to me, so to be given the opportunity to contribute to its ongoing legacy, especially in collaboration with a filmmaker as talented as Gareth, is literally a dream come true. I'm still pinching myself."

The next Star Wars movie is Star Wars Episode VII, which comes to theaters December 18, 2015. It features actors from the original trilogy, including Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher, as well as newcomers like Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis and Harry Potter's Domhnall Gleeson.

Electronic Arts signed a 10-year exclusive development deal with Disney last y ear for new Star Wars games, one of which is an all-new Star Wars: Battlefront title from Battlefield developer DICE in Sweden.

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Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch
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