Felicity Jones Nabs "Star Wars" Spin Off #1 Role

 Last month we learned that Rooney Mara, Felicity Jones and Tatiana Maslany were testing for the female lead in Godzilla helmer Gareth Edwards' Star Wars spin-off #1.. Days later Variety reporter Justin Kroll said via his Twitter feed that Mara's sister and "House of Cards" co-star Kate Mara apparently tested for the role.

 Variety reports that Oscar-nominated and "The Theory of Everything" co-star Jones has begun official talks for the role

Maslany was rumored to have won the role last week and she was still rumored as of late yesterday.

Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul is rumored to star in the film. His role in the film was not specified.The actor used Twitter to deny the rumor.

We recently found out that Gary Whitta is no longer writing the script for the film.

 Slashfilm suggested that Simon Kinberg ("X-Men: Days of Future Past," "Sherlock Holmes," "Mr. and Mrs. Smith") would take on the job--but his schedule prevents that.

Instead Heat Vision reports that Chris Weitz ("About A Boy," "Cinderella") will pen the next draft.

No plot details have been officially disclosed yet by Disney/Lucasfilm. There's plenty of guess-work going on though:

A while back chatter suggested the film will feature a team of bounty hunters and include a young Han Solo and his wookie co-pilot Chewbacca.Then more noise came that suggested the spinoff will focus on a team of bounty hunters hired by the Rebels to steal the plans of the first Death Star, as a result viewers would see the Millennium Falcon in action during the movie.

Sources for Bad Ass Digest said that the film "is about a group of 'pirates' as opposed to 'bounty hunters,' which could easily include young Mr. Solo." So rather than focusing on a group of characters like those we saw in "The Empire Strikes Back," we'd follow a team of likable rogues akin to James Gunn's film adaptation of Marvel 's Guardians of the Galaxy"

Latino Review reports that according to their sources, both Boba Fett and Solo will be featured in this untitled spinoff. Said film will NOT revolve around stealing the plans for the first Death Star as had been previously indicated, but rather is reportedly set before that event. .

They say the story will deal with the relationships between Han, Boba and other criminals - specifically The Hutts which could "kick off a new series of Star Wars movies."

Meantime, Making Star Wars reports that the film will be shot in Mexico, and that "bounty hunters are important to the film." Crew members are also expected to redress some of the sets from J J. Abrams' "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens" for use in the spinoff which will reportedly shoot under the code name "Los Alamos."

There is speculation that said Mexico location may be used to stand in for the planet Geonosis, the planet we saw in 'Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" where the plans for the Death Star were created and where Jango Fett's body is.
 
Production on the project is expected to get underway at Pinewood Studio sometime in 2015, likely after the currently shooting James Bond film "Spectre" wraps. It is currently targeting a December 16th 2016 release.