I thought Jurassic World was terrible and was disappointed they picked Trevorrow to write and direct Episode IX. They actually took his script and hired someone else to re-write it. I can’t help but wonder if this was the first sign they were not satisfied with the movie he planned to make.
Who should get it?
I suggest Taika Waititi. I haven’t seen Thor 3 yet, but his previous movies were great and if Thor 3 is as crazy and fun as its trailers look, he’d be a great fit.
Abrams is a skilled director and a talented writer. The main problem most people had with Episode 7 was that many of its plot points were too reminiscent of Episode 4 - and I think we’ve learned since then that Star Wars directors don’t have the power to decide things like that. Episode 9 will have the story Kathleen Kennedy wants it to have, and whatever director she chooses won’t have much say in the matter.
From what I understand, Rogue One was good despite Edwards, not because of him. Most of the frankly excellent movie we saw was a result of frantic re-editing and last-minute reshoots.
Treverrow was a hack (Jurassic World was garbage) so it’s good he’s gone but Abrams really needs to step up his game. TFA was an entertaining movie but really was coasting on the Star Wars goodwill. I hope Episode IX is more original.
I don’t specifically hate Abrams as a director, but let’s be blunt - his career is built on painfully shallow, flimsy plots held together by pretense and far better actors than he deserves. This is not a good change from my opinion.
Star Wars isn’t about auteurs, at least not anymore. It’s about fulfilling an established style, colouring inside the lines as set by Lucasfilm. I think the outlying stories have some more freedom, but not much, judging by how the Han Solo movie ousted its directors rather brutally. As this is the third director slated for the movie after Josh Trank was removed for unpredictable personality reasons, and now Trevorrow apparently for unbridled ego reasons, they are desperate for someone safe and who knows what they’re doing, hence the familiar Abrams, who knows the world, the characters, and the Disney/Lucasfilm rubric.
Having said that, Mahaloth’s suggestion of Taika Waititi would be great for an anthology movie. Maybe the Obi Wan Kenobi movie, or what lays beyond (Droids? Boba Fett? Something else entirely new?). He seems to be a good fit, assuming Thor Ragnarok is as good as it appears.
I really want new Star Wars universe movies that have no connection to the Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker time. I loved Knights of the Old Republic, which took place hundreds of years earlier.
I wish Disney had the guts to hire some people to make new movies that move past nostalgia and try some original ideas.
I think you are right and given they literally want to release a Star Wars movie every year until the end of time, this is really dumb. They have to start making the different or people will get bored.
They’ve only done two so far under the current “regime”, and they’re pretty different from each other, IMO. So I think they’re doing fine so far (I liked both TFA and R1).
We interrupt this thread to correct an error I made.
Josh Trank was not on Episode IX, he was on the Anthology movie set for afterward, which may or may not have been about Boba Fett, and now is likely to be about Obi Wan Kenobi. No Director has been announced for that movie yet either.