Colin Trevorrow is no longer directing Star Wars: Episode IX, Lucasfilm said Tuesday.
“Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX. Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ. We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon,” read a Lucasfilm statement.
Rumors of Trevorrow’s departure have dogged the project since early June, weeks before the opening of The Book of Henry, his thriller that was panned by critics and failed at the box office.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that script issues have continued to be a sore spot throughout Episode IX’s development, with Trevorrow having repeated stabs at multiple drafts. In August, Jack Thorne, the British scribe who wrote the upcoming Julia Roberts-Jacob Tremblay movie Wonder, was tapped to work on the script.
Sources say that the working relationship between Trevorrow and Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy became unmanageable.Kennedy, who had already been through one director firing/replacement on the Han Solo spinoff movie, was not eager for a sequel and tried to avoid this decision.
It also seems like Rian Johnson is a top choice for becoming the new director, but nothing is decided as of right now.
I personally would like someone different than Rian Johnson, just so we can have three separate takes on Star Wars within a trilogy. I really like the idea of that. A bunch have people have been calling for Denis Villeneuve which sounds like a great choice.
I personally think Alfonso Cuaron would be the best fit.
Honestly? Good. Trevorrow never struck me as a franchise kind of guy, which made his choice for Episode IX and Jurassic World baffling. I didn’t see JW, but I’ve seen nothing but middling-to-bad things about it.
No wait, I would actually watch that prequels era movie about a young Kirsten Dunst-esque woman who contrary to her privileged life, feels very socially isolated after being taken from her home to train as a jedi only to just get offed once Order 66 goes down. It’d be Marie Antoinette but with lasers and probably not as good a soundtrack.
As much as I liked Jurassic World as a big dumb movie dripped in lots of Jurassic Park nostalgia, I feel Star Wars has to be more than this. Jurassic World just had terrible characters outside of the dinosaur cast.
I had heard that Trevorrow wanted to shoot parts of Star Wars in actual space… I’m not sure if this meant a zero G section or actually out floating in space…
Still, a hell of a career trajectory, small indie film, to Jurassic World, to Star Wars. Makes me want to go out and make a small indie film. Surely, I could do better than Safety Not Guaranteed!
I’m not sure who would be my choice for Episode IX… Maybe Rian Johnson again. Maybe Gareth Edwards again, that guy has a good eye for visuals, he knows how to direct a shot - which I think was missing from the Force Awakens. The final shaky helicopter shot demonstrated this.