Visionary director Gareth Edwards is back with his fourth feature film, The Creator, and it looks set to be his biggest and most impressive yet.

Edwards burst onto the screen back in 2010 with his cheaply made yet wholly impressive debut Monsters and has since followed it up with a duo of science fiction and fantasy epics, starting with a reboot of Godzilla in 2014 and Star Wars’ first anthology spin-off, Rogue One, in 2016.

The Creator is Edwards’ latest and has appeared out of seemingly nowhere with little-to-no online preamble to deliver what looks to be the British filmmaker’s biggest movie to date.

Read more: Rogue One's editors reveal the scenes added in the Star Wars standalone reshoots

The Creator is billed as a sci-fi thriller, but what is it all about? Well, we’ve rounded up all the key information we could find including the release date, plot, cast and trailer details.

The Creator release date

Originally pegged for an October 2023 release, it was revealed during this year’s CinemaCon event that audiences will get to experience The Creator a little earlier than expected when it arrives in cinemas and IMAX globally on Friday, 29 September.

The Creator plot

Based on a story and screenplay conceived by Edwards himself, The Creator comes complete with an elevator pitch that might as well have been ripped from the current headlines of any news outlet.

Set in a near future where artificial intelligence has reached a stage so advanced that it has become humanity’s greatest threat, a recently widowed ex-military man is hired by what’s left of the government to track down and kill the entity responsible for creating this advanced AI tech.

That said, it wouldn’t be much of a story if there wasn’t some sort of twist. When our hero finally finds this all-important visionary — known here as the Creator — he discovers it has created a mysterious new weapon which could forever change the course of both sides of the battlefield.

The Creator cast

John David Washington looks set to continue his cinematic winning streak following turns in BlacKkKlansman and Tenet by stepping into the shoes of Edwards' tortured army vet hero Joshua.

Meanwhile, a handful of other names have been confirmed to appear in the project — some with character names, some without — but it’s currently unclear what their roles will entail.

Sturgill Simpson will play Shipley, taking over a role that was once circled by Eastbound and Down’s Danny McBride, while Edwards’ Godzilla co-star Ken Watanabe plays human-like robot Harun, a character that was initially due to be played by Benedict Wong before he had to leave due to scheduling conflicts.

I, Tonya star Allison Janney joins as a military character named Colonel Howell, with Finchy from the UK’s version of The Office, Ralph Ineson, cast as Andrews and Madeleine Voyles playing Alphie, the young human-like machine glimpsed in the movie’s first trailer.

Eternals star Gemma Chan and The Outsider actor Marc Menchaca also appear although their character names are currently a mystery.

The Creator trailer

The trailer for The Creator for looks glorious, just like its first poster.

Splicing slick visuals with a dystopic Blade Runner aesthetic and enough bubbling AI unease to give James Cameron’s Terminator franchise the willies, Edwards’ latest promises to do what any science fiction movie worth its salt should do - transport us to another world.

Watch it below:

The Creator hits cinemas and IMAX from Friday, 29 September.