Colin Trevorrow is out as director of Star Wars: Episode IX. As we ponder who will replace him, Disney might already be lining up The Last Jedi helmer Rian Johnson.
Colin Trevorrow was always a bit of an odd choice to direct the ninth and final (lol, we’ve heard that one before) movie in the main Star Wars saga.
He is an accomplished director, certainly, with Safety Not Guaranteed probably his best work to date and Jurassic World proving his competency when it comes to handling big franchise blockbusters.
Related: 4 Star Wars standalone films we really want to see
Yet fans were not exactly devastated when it was announced yesterday that he and Disney had parted ways, and that Trevorrow will no longer be directing Episode IX.
The wish lists for which director should helm the movie will undoubtedly be pouring in; it doesn’t need to be said that Disney would benefit from hiring a woman — a woman of color, preferably — and diversifying its director roster, but I’m not holding my breath.
What seems more likely, and honestly wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, is that Episode VIII director Rian Johnson stays on board to finish out the trilogy.
According to Deadline‘s “insider” sources, Rian Johnson is Lucasfilm’s top choice for the gig; indeed, when he was first brought on to helm The Last Jedi, the deal was for him to do two movies.
Of course directing two Star Wars movies back to back is a daunting task for anyone, but by all accounts, Johnson would be up for the challenge. Only a few months ago, Johnson said on Twitter that he’d do another one “in a heartbeat.”
I would do another SW movie in a heartbeat. I've had the time of my life.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) July 20, 2017
We haven’t seen Rian Johnson’s Star Wars movie yet, and really have nothing but the confidence of Kathleen Kennedy and the Star Wars stars to go on. His previous work, chiefly Brick and Looper, prove him a talented director, but the tone and feel of Star Wars is so specific. We won’t know until we see The Last Jedi if he managed to recapture (or preferably surpass) the magic that made J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens so enjoyable.
But perhaps consistency is the best thing for the Star Wars universe right now. Rian Johnson is talented and hard-working, and clearly gels with the Lucasfilm team in a way that the various rejected Star Wars anthology film directors have not.
I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather have a Star Wars trilogy that feels cohesive, rather than see Disney and Lucasfilm bet on a high concept director only to replace him/her halfway through the creative process.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Marvel and Lucasfilm, it’s that these cinematic universes function a lot more like television series than independent movie productions under one banner. Each movie is an episode — literally, in Star Wars’ case — and the directors brought in to ‘helm’ each one are only afforded creative agency as long as it fits the vision of the overall ‘showrunner’ (i.e. the Marvel and Lucasfilm bosses).
Rian Johnson works well within the team that’s making Star Wars movies; he’s got a vision for this story and these characters that Kathleen Kennedy and co. approve of, and if he were to direct Episode IX, at least we could count on narrative and tonal consistency. And perhaps that’s the most important aspect, in a franchise such as this one.
We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about Disney and Lucasfilm’s plans for Star Wars: Episode IX.