Another shock Star Wars exit has rocked the galaxy this morning, as out of the blue Lucasfilm has released a statement announcing that Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow has left the project. See the statement from Lucasfilm below which was posted to StarWars.com:
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.
After the shitstorm of controversy that erupted over the ouster of Phil Lord and Chris Miller from the untitled Han Solo movie, it’s both surprising that Lucasfilm has another high-profile exit on their hands so soon, and at the same time not. It seems to be the work of producers that are now a bit gun-shy about going into production when the creative direction isn’t totally to their liking. Which makes total sense if you’re Kathleen Kennedy.
Although there was a big call for Trevorrow’s ouster in the wake of the poor reception to his indie film The Book Of Henry, script issues might have been the sticking point in this talk of “creative differences”. The Hollywood Reporter reports that script issues have been “the continuing sore spot with Episode IX’s development with Trevorrow having had repeated stabs at multiple drafts.” Jack Thorne (Wonder) was recently hired to work on the script with him, but obviously, things haven’t worked out.
I’m not as disappointed in this news as I was with the Miller/Lord announcement; although Jurassic World was trashy fun, it didn’t really sell me on Trevorrow’s ability to craft an epic conclusion to this new Star Wars trilogy. Time will tell who they get to replace Trevorrow in the director’s chair, but my money’s on Kennedy preferring an experienced hand over a newbie. Let the guessing games commence!
What do you guys think? Bummed we won’t be seeing a Coling Trevorrow Star Wars movie, or (not so) secretly pleased? Sound off in the comments below, or on Facebook!