As reported on Tuesday, the initial Star Wars: Episode IX director, Colin Trevorrow, parted ways with Lucasfilm, with an official statement from the studio citing different “visions” for the film. A subsequent report noted that “script issues have continued to be the continuing sore spot with Episode IX’s development,” and now, a new report (via Vulture) sheds more light on Trevorrow’s departure.
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Vulture has gotten words from sources familiar with the production of Trevorrow’s earlier films, The Book of Henry and Jurassic World, who did indeed confirm Trevorrow was fired from the project. They shared the following insight:
“During the making of Jurassic World, he focused a great deal of his creative energies on asserting his opinion,” the executive explains. “But because he had been personally hired by Spielberg, nobody could say, ‘You’re fired.’ Once that film went through the roof and he chose to do Henry, [Trevorrow] was unbearable. He had an egotistical point of view— and he was always asserting that.”
The source backs speculation that ongoing tensions with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy influenced Trevorrow’s firing.
“There’s one gatekeeper when it comes to Star Wars and it’s Kathleen Kennedy,” says a veteran movie producer, who has worked with the studio chief. “If you rub Kathleen Kennedy the wrong way — in any way — you’re out. You’re done. A lot of these young, new directors want to come in and say, ‘I want to do this. I want to do that.’ A lot of these guys — Lord and Miller, Colin Trevorrow — got very rich, very fast and believed a lot of their own hype. And they don’t want to play by the rules. They want to do shit differently. And Kathleen Kennedy isn’t going to fuck around with that.”
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An official statement from Lucasfilm regarding Trevorrow’s exit reads:
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 isn’t the first time Lucasfilm has unexpectedly parted with a high-profile firector. Trevorrow’s reported firing follows the letting go of director Phil Lord and Chris Miller from The Han Solo Anthology Film earlier this year. While Ron Howard was promptly brought in to replace Lord and Miller on that film, no director has been chosen — or at least publicly revealed — to fill in for Trevorrow, yet.
Scheduled to hit theaters on May 24, 2019, Star Wars: Episode IX is a production of Lucasfilm and likely starring Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac.