There has been a great disturbance in the Force. After being attached to the project for quite some time, it has been announced thatJurassic WorlddirectorColin Trevorrowhas leftStar Wars 9. According to Disney and Lucasfilm, the split is mutual, but as always with things like this, there could be much more to it. This comes just months after directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired from work on the untitledHan Solomovie.
The news came to light in a statement released via the officialStarWars.comwebsite. As is the case with many situations like this, the reason for the director shakeup onStar Wars 9is creative differences. As for what those exact creative differences are at the moment? It hasn’t been made clear, but this is another big setback for theDisney era of Star Warsand could signify a larger problem at hand. Here’s the official statement from Lucasfilm.
“Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways onStar 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.”
There is a lot to dissect in regards to Lucasfilm parting ways with Colin Trevorrow, but it is definitely a surprise. Trevorrow was named the director ofStar Wars: Episode IXshortly afterJurassic Worldwas released in 2015. That movie went on to become a massive financial success and most definitely was what helped secure him the gig to close out this newStar Wars trilogy. He has had the job for nearly two years now and has been developing the script and preparing the movie during that time. Considering thatStar Wars 9is expected to begin production in January, the timing is surprising. Why after two years are they moving on just months before production?
Recently, it was revealed that writer Jack Thorne, who wrote the stage play forHarry Potter and the Cursed Child, was hired by Lucasfilm to do arewrite on Star Wars 9. Previously, Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly had been working on a draft. At the time there was no indication that Trevorrow was going to leave the project, but now the hiring of Thorne to do the rewrite makes a lot more sense and it could be a much more significant rewrite than we previously anticipated.
Colin Trevorrow had a lot of success withJurassic World, but his latest movie,The Book of Henry, as an absolute disaster critically and financially. It is possible that failure played into this decision. It is also possible that this has been known behind-the-scenes at Lucasfilm for a while now and they were just trying to not let it out until they had things straightened out with theHan Solomovie. Since Ron Howard seems to have that under control, now is as good a time as anyStar Wars 9is currently set for release on July 19, 2025. There is no word on whether or not having to find a new director will have an effect on that release date. We will be sure to keep you up to date as more information onStar Wars 9is made available.
