J. J. Abrams replaces Colin Trevorrow as ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ director

After Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow gets fired as director for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX, it looks like Lucasfilm and Disney are going back to a tried-and-tested director. The production company names J.J. Abrams as Trevorrow’s replacement. Abrams directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which can be considered the reboot or continuation of the nine-part Star Wars saga. As a consequence of the directorial change, Lucasfilm also announced that this last movie of this installment is getting pushed back to December 20, 2019 instead of its May 2019 release.

Before Trevorrow lost the gig, we know Lucasfilm brought on Jack Thorne to re-write the script. Rumour has it the film needed to be re-written partly because of Carrie Fisher’s death. As General Leia in the new set of films, she was set to play a significant role in Episode IX and while we may see some pre-shot footage, her role in the film will obviously have to be lessened.

Source: Ars Technica

‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ loses its director

Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV/Flickr

Trouble is brewing yet again at Disney and Lucasfilm. The upcoming last film to the current Star Wars trilogy just lost its director Colin Trevorrow. Disney issued a statement about the news saying, “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.” The company has yet to name a replacement. According to Variety’s sources, the split was caused by differences regarding script treatment. The news comes out a month after Wonder screenwriter Jack Thorne was brought on by Disney to polish the film’s script. Trevorrow and his writing partner Derek Connolly were the ones who penned the most recent draft of the script.

Disney announced that Trevorrow was working on Episode IX back at the August 2015 D23 Expo. He was fresh off directing the hugely successful Jurassic World film. Episode IX is expected to hit theatres two years from now on May 24^th with filming expected to start early next year. Whether this news will affect the schedule, we can’t say yet. Trevorrow joins the likes of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who were booted from the Han Solo spinoff, and Fantastic Four director Josh Trank, who was supposed to direct a standalone Star Wars spinoff.

‘Star Wars: Episode 9’ reportedly getting Jack Thorne to rewrite Colin Trevorrow’s script

It’s not unusual for a film this early in its pre-production to get some additional help. For the 2019 release of Star Wars: Episode 9, the film’s script is getting a rewrite. The first draft of the film was co-written by the film’s director Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly. Lucasfilm seems to have been happy with the progress made so far ahead of the May 2019 release. But with Trevorrow hoping to start filming in January 2018, it gives them around five months to get all the pre-prod stuff done. Apparently, one of the things they want to do is give the script a once-over. Screenwriter Jack Thorne is supposedly coming on board to work on the script. He’s worked on things like Skins, National Treasure, and BBC’s His Dark Materials adaptation, among others.

It isn’t known how much Thorne has to do on the screenplay but with production schedule seemingly still the same, it might just mean that Thorne is coming on as a script doctor and reading over what’s been done and making edits where needed.

Source: Screen Rant