AceShowbiz -

One of the untitled stand-alone Star Wars films may have suffered a setback as it has lost its screenwriter. Gary Whitta who was enlisted to write the screenplay for Gareth Edwards' "Star Wars" spin-off has decided to leave the project.

It's unclear what forced Whitta to depart the "Star Wars" project, but the split seems to be an amicable one. "Gary has been a wonderful, inspired contributor and I enjoyed working with him tremendously," Edwards said. "I'm so grateful for all of his contributions."

"The year I spent working with Lucasfilm on this Star Wars film has been by far the most rewarding period of my entire career," the writer stated. "As a lifelong Star Wars fan I'm deeply grateful to have had the rare opportunity to contribute to a new chapter in its ongoing cinematic legacy. The film is going to be amazing."

It's unknown if Disney will hire a new writer for the movie due December 16, 2016, but it's not the first time they're dealing with a writer change when it comes to "Star Wars". In 2013, J.J Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan took over the script-writing duty for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" after Michael Arndt left due to creative differences.

Meanwhile, Gary Whitta is now focusing on his next project as he tweeted, "My year of work in a galaxy far, far away is done! I'm onto my next project, adapting @mrmarkmillar's STARLIGHT for 20th Century Fox!" It follows a space hero Duke McQueen who is forced to come out of his retirement and save the universe once again.