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Colin Trevorrow will no longer direct Star Wars: Episode IX

Lucasfilm and Disney announced his departure on Tuesday.

2017 Los Angeles Film Festival - Opening Night Premiere Of Focus Features’ ‘The Book Of Henry’ - Red Carpet
2017 Los Angeles Film Festival - Opening Night Premiere Of Focus Features’ ‘The Book Of Henry’ - Red Carpet
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Alex Abad-Santos
Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.

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:

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

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.

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