BREAKING: Colin Treverrow Is No Longer Directing “Star Wars: Episode IX”

WDWNT on September 19, 2017

width=

Disney has just announced that Colin Trevorrow will no longer be directing “Star Wars: Episode IX”.

This comes as not much of a surprise after Lucasfilm recently fired Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from the “Han Solo” movie over creative differences. Lucasfilm also had issues with Gareth Edwards’ direction of “Rogue One” resulting in re-shoots that did not include Edwards’ participation. A few years ago, Josh Trank was also fired as director of the “Boba Fett” spin off movie.

Lucasfilm is very protective of the Star Wars franchise and I can’t blame them with being overly concerned with Treverrow’s participation. This is the final chapter of the current Star Wars trilogy and you dont want it in the hands of someone with questionable experience. Treverrow did have blockbuster success due to his direction of “Jurassic World” but prior to that, he was virtually unknown and his latest movie, “The Book Of Henry” was a critical and box office flop.

From The Wrap:

Colin Trevorrow is stepping down as the director of “Star Wars: Episode IX,” Disney announced on Tuesday.

“Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on ‘Star Wars: Episode IX,’” Disney said in a statement. “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.”

Trevorrow was announced to direct “Episode IX” in 2015, set for release in 2019. The film will conclude the third trilogy of “Star Wars” movies that began with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” last year. Rian Johnson is directing “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

Trevorrow directed the 2015 box office hit “Jurassic World” and has a writing credit on its upcoming sequel, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” His recent film, “The Book of Henry,” was a critical and commercial flop.

Source: The Wrap

Disney Announces Dates for Star Wars IX, Indiana Jones, Frozen 2, Delays Wreck-It Ralph, Gigantic

WDWNT on April 27, 2017

width=

In a shocking move, Disney has released official dates for “Star Wars: Episode IX” and the live action “Lion King” but has switched around several big titles from their original release dates.

  • “Star Wars: Episode IX” will open on May 24, 2019.
  • “The Lion King” will open on July 19, 2019
  • “Indiana Jones 5” was set to open on July 19, 2019 but will now open July 10, 2020.
  • “Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It-Ralph 2” was set to open March 9, 2018 but will now open November 21, 2018.
  • “A Wrinkle In Time” was set to open on April 6, 2018 but will now open on March 9, 2018.
  • “Magic Camp” was set to open on August 3, 2018 but will not open on April 6, 2018.
  • “Gigantic” was set to open on November 21, 2018 but will now open on November 25, 2020.
  • “Frozen 2” is set to open on November 27, 2019.

D23 Expo 2015: “Star Wars: Episode IX” Will Be Directed By “Jurassic World” Director, Colin Trevorrow np

WDWNT on August 3, 2015

2000px-Star_Wars_Logo.svg

Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn announced that writer-director Colin Trevorrow will direct Star Wars: Episode IX, which is set for release in 2019.

While production won’t begin for a few years, Trevorrow is heading to Lucasfilm this year to begin working with artists and his fellow Star Wars directors. “Colin is someone I’ve been interested in working with ever since I saw ‘Safety Not Guaranteed,’” says Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. “The power of that film paired with the enormous success of ‘Jurassic World’ speaks volumes about his abilities both as a storyteller and skilled filmmaker. We are thrilled to have such an incredible talent as Colin join our family and step into the Star Wars universe.”

Trevorrow states, “This is not a job or an assignment. It is a seat at a campfire, surrounded by an extraordinary group of storytellers, filmmakers, artists and craftspeople. We’ve been charged with telling new stories for a younger generation because they deserve what we all had—a mythology to call their own. We will do this by channeling something George Lucas instilled in all of us: boundless creativity, pure invention and hope.”

Star Wars: Episode IX will conclude the third trilogy of Star Wars movies that begins with Star Wars: The Force Awakens on December 18, 2015.

RUMOR: Disney Wants J.J. Abrams Back To Direct “Star Wars: Episode IX”

WDWNT on March 19, 2015

jj-abrams-star-wars-episode-7

This story has been making the rounds this week that J.J. Abrams may be returning to direct “Star Wars: Episode IX.”

From Latino Review:

Despite his absence from the production team on the next installment, his commitment to other ongoing franchises and early rumors of disagreements between him and the Disney Team, there’s a good chance that J.J. Abrams will be back to direct Star Wars: Episode IX.

There are enough conversations about J.J. Abrams returning to direct Episode IX that we’ve been able to independently verify it four times that his name is the front-runner for the last trilogy installment.

From Making StarWars:

There was also another rumor going around that Abrams was reviewing Rian Johnson’s work and they were worked out a final outline for the final installment in this trilogy because VIII is getting tighter and more refined (it should shoot with some overlap with Rogue One). That makes sense and it kind of a “of course they would do that” kind of thing. He is the executive producer. There is another rumor that Rian Johnson is not totally out IX but the production timeline makes it seem nearly impossible and from what I have seen that appears to be true about the timeline aspect.

That rumor about Abrams is going around Latino Review reported today. I personally don’t think its really worked out yet. But here’s the big thing for me. J.J. Abrams executive producing the rest of the trilogy might have been agreed upon before he ever signed. But it probably also means Abrams is doing a kick ass job with Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy are pleased with his work (which is not surprising but still good to hear).

The good thing here, if this is true, is that Disney has seen very early cuts of the film and they are loving what they have seen and they want Abrams back.

My personal opinion is let’s see what Abrams does with the “The Force Awakens” before we get too excited. I’ve been burned before with the promise of a new “Star Wars” movie and probably what affected the movie the most was bad directing by George Lucas. I have no problem saying that I am not a fan of The Prequels. The Prequel Trilogy had many problems but this always bothered me the most. You had actors such as Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L Jackson, Christopher Lee, Brian Blessed and Hayden Christensen (he was OK in “Jumper”) and they were all horrible? This has to be the result of Lucas’ poor directing skills. These are actors that I have seen in many other movies where they have given some great performances. But now you put all of these actors together in a movie trilogy and all of their acting is wooden, boring and lifeless. That’s not the actors fault, it’s the director’s. I know people will debate me on this but they all acted horribly in the Prequels. Even Yoda was bad, and he was great in The Original Trilogy!

My point is that it’s not always a good thing to have the same director doing ever single movie of a trilogy. You also dont want to give one man to much power in which he feels he has free reign to do whatever he wants. I felt that having Peter Jackson direct all of the films in “The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy” worked very well but look what he did to “The Hobbit Trilogy.” To me the best Star Wars movie was “The Empire Strikes Back” and a huge part of it was because Irving Kirshner directed the film instead of George Lucas. If Lucas would have directed that film, it would have been a completely different film. Lucas has said that “Empire” is his least favorite “Star Wars” film.

I really need to see what J.J. Abrams does with his first “Star Wars” movie before I can be excited or disappointed with the thought of his return. And I cant wait….but I hope it’s good!