‘Episode IX’ is the latest ‘Star Wars’ movie to lose its director

Colin Trevorrow, the mastermind behind the blockbuster that was Jurassic World (but also the box office bomb that was The Book of Henry), is no longer the director who gets to tell the final story in the new Star Wars trilogy. Disney just fired him.

Well, Disney wouldn’t exactly phrase it that way, but that’s the impression that we got from the statement on Tuesday evening. “Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX,” Disney’s Lucasfilm said in an incredibly short announcement. Yes, I bet it was “mutual.” No, there’s no new director to replace him.

“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,” Disney continued. “We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon.”

It’s unclear why Trevorrow was let go. Is it the failure of The Book of Henry to blame? We’ll probably never know, unless the director chooses to disclose more information about his involvement with Episode IX and the creative differences that ended his time on the project. As for the next Star Wars director, there’s plenty of time to get things sorted, as Episode IX isn’t due out for a couple of years. Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens on December 15th, and it’ll be followed by the standalone Han Solo movie next year.

Speaking of the Han Solo movie, that’s another Star Wars movie that lost its directors earlier this year. Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired, and Disney brought in Ron Howard to replace them.