Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has opened up just a little bit on why they parted ways with director Colin Trevorrow on Star Wars Episode IX, which we now know asStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. But in discussing that specific situation, Kennedy provided some more general information, from her perspective, that helps us to understand why she feels theStar Wars franchisehas lost some filmmakers along the way. That said, there’s surely more to it, but those dirty details may never make themselves known.
With the release ofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkercreeping up, the press push is also kicking into high gear. Kathleen Kennedy recently did an interview discussing the final chapter in the Skywalker saga. To kick things off, she was asked about losingJurassic Worlddirector Colin Trevorrow after he had been working on the movie for some time, paving the way for J.J. Abrams to come back in and finish what he started withThe Force Awaknes. Here’s whatKathleen Kennedyhad to say.
“Every one of these movies is a particularly hard nut to crack. There’s no source material. We don’t have comic books. We don’t have 800-page novels. We don’t have anything other than passionate storytellers who get together and talk about what the next iteration might be. We go through a really normal development process that everybody else does. You start by talking to filmmakers who you think exhibit the sensibilities that you’re looking for.
And I would argue that the list is very small, people who really do have the sensibilities about these kind of movies, and then the experience and the ability to handle how enormous a job these movies are. So we try to be as thoughtful as we possibly can about making those choices. I would also argue that sometimes people get involved in the normal development process, and then they realize, ‘Oh, my God, this is so much more than I ever imagined.’ So it’s pretty common that when you’re working on movies, you’re not making choices and decisions that necessarily work out exactly the way you want from the get-go.”
There’s a lot to pick apart with that statement. The main thing is that she’s implying thatColin Trevorrow, and perhaps some of the other directors that have parted ways with Lucasfilm, simply can’t handle the development process that goes into making a Star Wars movie. Though, when looking at some of the talent they’ve lost, that seems a bit hard to believe.
The first departure wasJosh Trank. He had been on deck to direct a Boba Fett movie, but following the disaster that wasFantastic Four, they parted ways. That one made sense, given that Trank had something of a stink on him after his Marvel Comics adaptation. The first sign of real trouble was when Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the duo behindThe LEGO Movieand21 Jump Street, parted ways withSolojust weeks away from filming being finished. That certainly had nothing to do with the development process. Most recently,Game of Thronesduo David Benioff and D.B. Weiss departed a planned trilogy of movies that was set to be the next big screen adventure in the franchise. Now, the future is very much uncertain.
There are no easy answers, and it’s not as though Kathleen Kennedy can just come right out and dish the dirt. Whatever the case may be, there has been a problem between top talent and the Lucasfilm brass that has prevented successful directors from taking on one of the biggest franchises in history.Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerhits theaters on December 20. This news comes to us viaRolling Stone.
