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Colin Trevorrow leaves Star Wars Episode IX

Last night Lucasfilm officially announced that Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World, The Book Of Henry) was stepping down as director of Star Wars: Episode IX. Lucasfilm issued the Following Statement:

   "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."


This is the second change in directors that the Star Wars franchise has faced in the past few months, with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie) being fired from the Han Solo origin film.

Colin Trevorrow

According to the statement, the decision was down to creative differences. However, whilst this may be true, it could also be because of the studio losing faith in Trevorrow. His most recent film, The Book Of Henry (2017) was both a critical and financial failure, which would have been taken into account by both Disney and Kathleen Kennedy. And, although he directed Jurassic World (2015), which became the 4th highest grossing film of all time, that also received its fair share of criticism from fans and critics concerning its plot and characters. So whilst that film may have gotten him the Star Wars gig in the first place, due to its immense box office intake, he would still need to prove himself as a storyteller, which The Book Of Henry showed him not to have. These factors can also be taken into account when thinking of Trevorrow leaving Star Wars.

Kathleen Kennedy

The Mastermind behind this new era of Star Wars has had quite a shaky relationship with directors. And this story doesn't help with that reputation. She had Rogue One (Gareth Edwards. 2016) go under major reshoots, changing the third act completely, she fired Josh Trank (Chronicle, Fantastic Four) from a Star Wars Project back in 2015 and just a few months back she fired Lord and Miller off of the Han Solo film, weeks before they were done with Principal Photography and had Ron Howard (Rush, Heart Of The Sea) step in to replace them. So clearly something is wrong with Kennedy's methods of hiring directors as she's having serious problems with them. Hopefully, Kennedy is able to correct these issues that she's having with her directors and hire ones that she knows for a fact that she can trust. However, Kennedy's decisions do seem to pay off in the end. The two Star Wars films that she has been in charge of have both made over a $1 Billion worldwide. With The Force Awakens even making $2 Billion, being the second film to achieve that feat after Avatar (James Cameron, 2009). So there's definitely something to be said about Kennedy's decisions. But she really needs to sort out her choices in directors.

Conclusion

Colin Trevorrow has shown himself to be something of a hit-or-miss director. Something that Kathleen Kennedy and Disney don't want to risk when it comes to their Star Wars Franchise, and for good reason. However, Kennedy really does need to sort out her director issues, preferably before they're even hired in the first place.
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