‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ Director Nixed by Lucasfilm

Movie studio may replace with Rian Johnson or J.J. Abrams.

September 6, 2017 9:50 am
Colin Trevorrow Out as 'Star Wars: Episode IX' Director
Colin Trevorrow arrives at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival - Opening Night Premiere Of Focus Features' 'The Book Of Henry' at Arclight Cinemas Culver City on June 14, 2017 in Culver City, California. (Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)

Call this the second major disturbance in the Force in recent months. Following Lucasfilm’s firing of Han Solo spinoff co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller back in June, yet another director has been shown the door.

Colin Trevorrow, best known for his work on Jurassic World, who had been helming the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX, has parted way with the movie studio, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In a statement, the studio said that “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.”

Sources told THR the issues stemmed in part from Trevorrow’s recent box office failure, The Book of Henry, which met with bad reviews; as well as a number of script issues on the Star Wars project.

After the studio landed Oscar-winning director Ron Howard to plug the hole on the Han Solo project, rumored replacements for Trevorrow are equally compelling: Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is said to be in the mix; as is Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams.

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