Earlier this week, the Star Wars universe was rocked by another unexpected departure of a director. This time, it was Episode IX‘s Colin Trevorrow, out over the same dreaded “creative differences” that saw Chris Miller and Phil Lord forced off of the Han Solo movie. At least this time, the change in directors didn’t come when most of the filming had already been completed. Despite the inherent risks and challenges of closing out the Skywalker saga, the Episode IX director’s chair is bound to draw interest from some of the top filmmakers. Today’s Nerdist News is running down a few possibilities before sharing our theory about who will step up to fill the void.
Join host and wampa wrangler, Jessica Chobot, as she goes over some strong choices for the job. For example, Ava DuVernay is coming off of A Wrinkle in Time, which means that she has some experience with larger blockbusters and she can handle spectacle and character. DuVernay even offered an assist to director J.J. Abrams during The Force Awakens‘ climatic lightsaber duel (Abrams even suggested as much to us last year). Even Abrams would be a smart choice, given the way that audiences responded to his work on the first film of the trilogy.
But in reality, we expect Lucasfilm and Disney to play it pretty safe with their choice for the director. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as they may already have the right person for the job. By all accounts, Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has seamlessly adapted to the demands of his job and he seems to understand what makes Star Wars work so well on the big screen. Keeping Johnson around for Episode IX would also give the final films in the saga a unified identity. It would be an easy call to make.
Episode IX will likely begin filming early next year, which means that we probably won’t have to wait long before someone signs on to finish the job that Trevorrow left behind.
Who do you want to see direct Star Wars: Episode IX? Let us know in the comment section below!
WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUTÂ THE LAST JEDI?
- See Luke Skywalker’s new dark look.
- New vehicles for The Last Jedi.
- Porg memes!
