Lucasfilm and Disney announced his departure on Tuesday.
Star Wars: Episode IX is currently in need of a new director, as Lucasfilm and Disney announced on Tuesday that Colin Trevorrow — who was also developing the film’s script — has left the project.
The announcement came via a statement posted on the official Star Wars site:
Though he made a minor splash with his 2012 comedy Safety Not Guaranteed, Trevorrow is best known for directing and co-writing Jurassic World, the 2015 sequel/reset of the storied dinosaur franchise. Jurassic World became the third-biggest movie of all time, and shortly after its massive debut, Trevorrow was announced as the Episode IX director.
But earlier this year, Trevorrow released his first movie since Jurassic World, an absolute stinker that goes by the name The Book of Henry. Star Wars fans alarmed by The Book of Henry ’s toxic reviews and box office began expressing doubt over Trevorrow being handed the keys to their favorite franchise — to the extent that Trevorrow had to publicly defend his gig shortly after The Book of Henry ’s release.
This announcement comes on the heels of a report from this August that another writer was brought in to rewrite on Trevorrow’s Episode IX script, as well as another big directorial shakeup in the Star Wars universe this past June: Ron Howard replacing Phil Lord and Chris Miller on the Han Solo prequel late into that film’s production. Unlike that highly unusual case, though, Episode IX is still in the development stage and has not yet begun production. It is currently scheduled to be released on May 24,2019.
