Colin Trevorrow’s rapid ascent to blockbuster filmmaking began after only one feature, the terrific indie film Safety Not Guaranteed. That led him to directing Jurassic World in 2015 which surprised everybody to the tune of $1.6B. He was riding high, and was then hired by Lucasfilm to direct and write Star Wars: Episode 9. Then the bottom fell out. He directed Book of Henry which was panned by critics and ignored at the box office, then shortly thereafter he was replaced on Episode 9 by a returning J.J. Abrams. Trevorrow hasn’t said much about his dismissal, but he has opened up a little bit to Empire, and he’s of pretty good spirits over it…
“I don’t want to talk too much about it because I don’t want to affect the way that fans get to see these films. When we were kids, these movies came to us from far away. They were a gift. And the more we talk about how they’re made, the more it reveals that they’re just movies. But they’re not just movies, they’re more than that. Beyond that, I got the opportunity to tell a story that is a celebration of everything I believe in, I got to tell it to George Lucas and I got to tell it to Luke Skywalker, and those are experiences I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
I can appreciate where Trevorrow is coming from here. If he said anything about his exit, ANYTHING, it would be splashed all over headlines for months. Everything Abrams does with his movie will be compared to what Trevorrow said, and we would all be talking about how troubled the production was even if there’s no trouble at all. If you want to know how that kind of bad buzz can hurt a movie, look no further than Solo. Not even Star Wars is immune.
Besides, things are looking up for Trevorrow now. He’s coming back to co-write and direct the third Jurassic World movie in June 2021. Star Wars: Episode 9 moves on without him, opening December 20th 2019.
