Director Trank abruptly drops out of 'Star Wars' anthology film

A filmmaker who had been put in charge of one of the upcoming Star Wars anthology films announced that he's dropping out of the project.
Josh Trank, who has been developing the still untitled film for a year, announced Friday that he has decided to move forward "on a different path," Entertainment Weekly reported.

There has been speculation for months of collaborative disagreements between Trank and the leadership at Lucasfilm regarding the film, which is expected in 2018. Director Gareth Edwards is directing the first film in the reboot series, titled Rogue One, expected in 2016.

"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," Trank said in a statement.

"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," he added.