Here Today, Gone Trevorrow: "Book of Henry" Director Off Star Wars
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 at 10:00AM by Daniel Crooke
While rumors of internal discontent have swirled since the release (and subsequent critical evisceration) of his heartwarming revenge thriller The Book of Henry, the Kiss of Death for Colin Trevorrow in the Star Wars Universe may just have been the moment Sarah Silverman laid a wet one on a dying boy genius as a parting gift from the suffering of this mortal coil.
Of course, this is speculation. Despite the timing of his departure – mere months after the catastrophic miscalculation that was Henry, onscreen and at the box office – what we do know, per a statement from Disney, is this: Colin Trevorrow has parted ways with Lucasfilm, and will no longer direct the ninth installment of the Star Wars franchise...
After the smash indie success of his narrative feature debut Safety Not Guaranteed in 2012, Trevorrow inherited the keys to the kingdom for another beloved and recently re-exhumed franchise, Jurassic World, released in the summer of 2015. While some found numerous aspects of that film to be eye-rolling, stiff, or problematic – namely around the treatment of its female characters, and one infamously cruel character death that seemed to relish in the elongated demise of its victim for talking on her phone too much – Jurassic World was an undeniable winner for Universal, breaking box office records and finishing second in the year’s top grosses next to, appropriately enough, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It is the fourth highest grossing film of all time, and a vote of confidence for the filmmaker; although one could certainly argue that when it comes to reviving a cherished piece of nostalgia, the product itself sells tickets not the unproven director behind the camera. Regardless, Disney announced Trevorrow as its director for Star Wars: Episode IX by the end of that summer. Yesterday they announced his exit.
This gives Disney and Lucasfilm a unique opportunity to finally break the white boy mold in major studio franchise direction. Ava DuVernay now has a working relationship with the former – with her fabulous-looking sci-fi, A Wrinkle in Time, due next spring – and has proven she can go epic in scope and ensemble with Selma. Bong Joon-ho continues to dazzle audiences with inventive action set pieces, most recently with a truck hijacking for the ages in Okja. Personally, I’d give anything to see Mira Nair frame a colorful spectrum of vivid light saber hues.
Given Trevorrow’s departure, who is your choice to direct Star Wars: Episode IX?
Reader Comments (15)
Stop trying to make good directors enter the Star Wars universe. It's not good for them. They need to stay unique, and you don't do that in a Star Wars movie. Ava doesn't need to go big and direct a Star Wars movie. She'd better direct some intimate like Middle of Nowhere again.
I always thought this was a ridiculous strategy by Disney. None of the directors (when they were announced at least) were household names other than Abrams, so what was the point?
Hmm...big budget action, grand themes, equality hire, hot ticket...?
Ding, ding, ding! Mimi Leder, step right up...
Unironic heart. Big action. Slightly Retro. Female hero. Patty Jenkins.
" and one infamously cruel character death that seemed to relish in the elongated demise of its victim for talking on her phone too much"
The Lost World had cruel deaths and I can not recall complaints. I come to mind two in particular. It is curious how all the complaints come because it is about what happens to a female character, if it were a man there would be no complaints.
I like Mira Nair's suggestion as a director. Another name that comes to mind would be Alfonso Cuaron. I wish both were considered.
Of his films I've only seen Jurassic World. It barely worked as a retread of Jurassic Park, filled with forgettable and annoying characters. The infamous death scene you mentioned left a bad taste in my mouth. It's one thing for that character to die, but the film reveled in how she died, finding it clever or funny and well-deserved for some reason. And it's not because she was a woman, but rather because she was an empathetic character who was trying to do her job and keep an eye on two unruly kids. You could argue that the lawyer's death in Jurassic Park was similar. It was not. The lawyer's body was not batted around like a toy for laughs.
I really, really enjoyed Safety Not Guaranteed YET the direction was the least of its great qualities and the script was written by someone else entirely.
Suffice to say, I was a bit puzzled when he was announced as THE NEXT BIG THING...
Did I miss something?
Good. Jurassic World was a stupid, creepy, bizarrely sexist movie.
As much as I love that the internet keeps bringing up Ava and Patty's names... stop. If Ava couldn't make it work with Disney/Marvel on Black Panther, what makes anyone think she'd fit in with the more inflexible Disney/Lucasfilms?
And Patty has the next Wonder Woman film. So she'll a tad busy.
Carry on suggesting OTHER women directors though.
Mr. Spielberg used to want to direct a Star Wars movie.
Ava DuVernay should direct Episode IX.
"Stop trying to make good directors enter the Star Wars universe. It's not good for them. They need to stay unique, and you don't do that in a Star Wars movie. Ava doesn't need to go big and direct a Star Wars movie. She'd better direct some intimate like Middle of Nowhere again.
"
Yeah, if Ava directs a Star Wars movie, I'll have to watch a Star Wars movie.
This is good news! I could not understand how Trevorrow managed to fail upward to grab this gig in the first place.
Alfonso Cuarón is an inspired choice. He has done space with Gravity, and worked within big budget franchies with Harry Potter (the best film in the series, in my opinion).
Duvernay is unlikely, not because she's female but because AWIT is likely to be a smash and Disney will want her to move on to a sequel.