The Rise of Skywalker Colin Trevorrow No Longer Directing Star Wars Episode IX

[GREEN =w= DAY]

R2 D2 has no connection to Rey. It'd only just activated at the end of TFA. Even in TLJ, I think it's mainly there for that Leia ANH callback.

But Luke does have a connection with R2 which is why it made more sense for R2 to go with Rey & Chewie to find Luke

 

[fan4stic]

But Luke does have a connection with R2 which is why it made more sense for R2 to go with Rey & Chewie to find Luke

I think R2D2 doesn't have much going on and is mainly there for that Leia ANH callback. If Luke connections matter, Luke, who isn't the main character, why send Rey at all? She has no connection to him, as far as they know, and I think the goal is to go and get him, which Chewie all by himself could easily do. Or even with Leia? I think Rey is the main character, so why should the droid that goes with her, and it's connection to Luke, matter? I think it's taking the repeating of concept and makes it more of a repeat, by essentially just using the original.

 

[BatLobster]

I think doing it is more repeating things. I don't like either ideas of Palps back or Kylo being the villain, though with Palp as the villain, I see the villain as more of something to oppose the heroic characters, in the fiction of the movies, and it not, to me, feel random.R2 D2 has no connection to Rey. It'd only just activated at the end of TFA. Even in TLJ, I think it's mainly there for that Leia ANH callback.

Yeah, but that still makes more story-sense than BB8 being there. R2 belonged to Luke and obviously had a history with Leia. Rey was sent by Leia to try and bring Luke back into the fight. R2 played his part in that. Even if it really was just about that one scene, that one scene still had more impact than anything BB8 could've had with Luke.

 

[Brother Jack]

Totally execution to blame. Palpatine returning had merit (though it wasn't the only choice) but needed to be handled with great care. And it wasn't. Palpatine's role is probably the sloppiest element of a very sloppy script.

It just completely broke the story. Bringing him back in the flesh off-screen with a "just because" non-explanation was literally the worst way they could've done it.

 

[henzINNIT]

How Palpatine returns is literally the first thing that comes to mind once you decide to bring him back. It's also the first thing we all think about once we're told. Explaining that effectively is how you convince the audience to buy in. I can only assume it was lost in the rush, but it's awful.

 

[fan4stic]

Yeah, but that still makes more story-sense than BB8 being there. R2 belonged to Luke and obviously had a history with Leia. Rey was sent by Leia to try and bring Luke back into the fight. R2 played his part in that. Even if it really was just about that one scene, that one scene still had more impact than anything BB8 could've had with Luke.

If Luke connections matter, Luke, who isn't the main character, why send Rey at all? She has no connection to him, as far as they know, and I think the goal is to go and get him, which Chewie all by himself could easily do. Or even with Leia? I think Rey is the main character, so why should the droid that goes with her, and it's connection to Luke, matter? I think it's taking the repeating of concept and makes it more of a repeat, by essentially just using the original.

 

[TheVileOne]

If there was a good reason to bring back Palpatine, Rise of Skywalker failed to convince me.

Based on Last Jedi, Kylo Ren was your third act villain and that was the way it had to be.

JJ Abrams needed a Fire Lord Ozai and wanted Kylo Ren to be Zuko. He couldn't think of a better solution.

 

[Schlosser85]

JJ has claimed bringing Palpatine back was the plan all along, but I just don't buy it. There is zero buildup or groundwork laid in the two previous films, so his claim reeks of PR damage control.

Also resurrecting a long-dead "big bad" from franchise history reeks of the kind of thing a creative team comes up with when they don't know what else to do.

I'd suspect Johnson might have left JJ in a bit of a bind when he unceremoniously killed off Snoke in TLJ. I'm not convinced that was all how everything was "meant" to go all along.

It felt like JJ laid a potentially promising groundwork, then Johnson came in with his own subversive ideas and too much free rein and undid all of it, then JJ overcompensated and we got Overcorrection: The Movie, along with floundering around with desperate ideas like bringing Palpatine back.

 

[henzINNIT]

Snoke was by far the weakest character established in the Force Awakens. The mystery of him was the only thing people cared about. I think Johnson was right to kill him off and elevate Kylo, his only mistake was not 'solving' that mystery beforehand.

 

[godisawesome]

Snoke was by far the weakest character established in the Force Awakens. The mystery of him was the only thing people cared about. I think Johnson was right to kill him off and elevate Kylo, his only mistake was not 'solving' that mystery beforehand.

I’m someone who agrees with the idea of Kylo killing off Snoke and replacing him as the main villain, but I always thought the idea would need to be accompanied by actually evolving Kylo into a worthy Big Bad for the ST, and I think that’s where Johnson screwed up.

Big Bad Kylo needs to be reestablished as the greatest physical threat to Rey and as a major catalyst for her internal conflict as well.

He can’t do that if Johnson not only refuses to have him do actual training or get a win over Rey and even plays them as clear equals in power and skill with Kylo as dumber and less sane, but also casts Kylo as a male lead Rey’s supposed to have a pseudo-crush on and can’t hate or fear the way she needs to.

And one of the side effects of making Rey a Random and not a Skywalker, not even as Luke’s last student, basically ensures that either the Skywalker family is screwed because of how pathetically loathsome Kylo is as a final chapter... or that you screw over Rey trying to give Kylo a happy ending for the sake of his family and end up prioritizing and focusing on him over her.

I think that last part was a key part of why LFL dumped Trevorrow’s DOTF script when he tried to have Kylo play the kart of main villain... but unfortunately, I think that’s more because LFL wanted Kylo to have a happy ending than realizing he wasn’t working as Rey’s enemy.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

The threat of reviving some evil doer from the dead is more exciting than actually doing that off screen before a movie begins.

Like Ghostbusters II. Or even like the Lord of the Rings.

The old rumor from 2014 was that an old Sith would be resurrected at the end of the VIII. I think Lucas - who they got away from - wanted it to be an ancient Sith or evil. They went their own way and just made a mess. I think Palpatine's spiel about being an amalgam of 'all the Sith' presumably going back to beginning is what they did instead. They used a familiar face instead of introducing an unfamiliar one.

/Film - Rumor: Potential Details Revealed About ‘Star Wars 7’ Villains (June 16, 2014)

According to the [Making Star Wars] article, the Jedi Hunters have been around for a long time and were tasked with protecting the Sith. Once the Sith were destroyed, they began to rise up and disturb the growth of the Jedi. So that’s what Luke Skywalker has been doing for the past 30 years, attempting to stop the “Jedi Hunters.” One scene that was reportedly filmed includes the “Jedi Hunters” worshiping the Sith. The rumor is their goal is to resurrect at Sith and will succeed at the end of Episode VIII, which will then lead to the conflict in Episodes IX.

MSW - Star Wars: Episode VII Rumors: Post-Endor project, Ewoks, Dooku connection, Leia, The Hutts, Lucas’ vision and more! (August 18, 2014)

George Lucas – George’s vision for the Sequel Trilogy was to take it right back to the beginning. Meaning, the beginning of the Jedi and Sith, how that came to be and how ancients forces were still influencing things. Luke was going to go on an adventure that would take him back to the origin of evil in the Galaxy. Some of these ideas have very much influenced the story.

Latino Review - Exclusive: Working Titles For ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ (October 11, 2013)

I was exclusively told that during that time, it seems that George had two working titles for Star Wars: Episode VII that were competing in his mind: Return of the Sith and Rise of the Jedi! These working titles were turned over to the Disney Company through the sale, BUT, there is no guarantee whatsoever that Disney will use these titles for the movie.

 

[henzINNIT]

I remember thinking Kylo Ren was a Sith historian and collector, and that Starkiller was an ancient weapon the First Order was unearthing.

The latter I wish was true just so it was a little less like the Death Star.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

The threat of reviving some evil doer from the dead is more exciting than actually doing that off screen before a movie begins.

Like Ghostbusters II. Or even like the Lord of the Rings.

The old rumor from 2014 was that an old Sith would be resurrected at the end of the VIII. I think Lucas - who they got away from - wanted it to be an ancient Sith or evil. They went their own way and just made a mess. I think Palpatine's spiel about being an amalgam of 'all the Sith' presumably going back to beginning is what they did instead. They used a familiar face instead of introducing an unfamiliar one.

/Film - Rumor: Potential Details Revealed About ‘Star Wars 7’ Villains (June 16, 2014)



MSW - Star Wars: Episode VII Rumors: Post-Endor project, Ewoks, Dooku connection, Leia, The Hutts, Lucas’ vision and more! (August 18, 2014)



Latino Review - Exclusive: Working Titles For ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ (October 11, 2013)

Man, that all sounds better than what we actually got. Though Abrams’ kind of used the Jedi Hunter aspect in TROS.

 

[henzINNIT]

“I think Colin Trevorrow was going to tell that story,” Boyega says now, acknowledging that he’s seen — and loved — the unused concept art for Duel of the Fates. “That image of Finn with the blue flag, and you have the AT-ATs lined up with tribal marks, and the stormtroopers take off their helmets. That would have been sick! That would have been dope, man, hands down.

From a Yahoo interview.

 

[TheVileOne]

People on here started getting snippy about Trevorrow after he made Book of Henry.

 

[Drizzle]

Man, if only I could go back in time and tell my past self not to get excited about JJ Abrams returning for Episode IX and to be upset about Colin Trevorrow losing out on the job even if I was underwhelmed by Jurassic World.

 

[TheVileOne]

John Boyega on Receiving ‘Full Support’ From ‘Star Wars’ Castmates

Sorry if this got posted already, figured it might be of interest.

 

[henzINNIT]

People on here started getting snippy about Trevorrow after he made Book of Henry.

I was certainly among them. I didn't care for Jurassic World and was never particularly enthused. I still think there were better choices. Only difference is now I know JJ wasn't one of them, ha.

 

[TheVileOne]

I was certainly among them. I didn't care for Jurassic World and was never particularly enthused. I still think there were better choices. Only difference is now I know JJ wasn't one of them, ha.

I think Kathleen Kennedy has gotten a lot of undeserved flack for her management of Star Wars, Lucasfilm, etc. However, I think there was a definite issue that they wouldn't just stick with the people they hired. Like you hired Lord and Miller to do Solo. Let them direct Solo. Let Trevorrow finish the trilogy.

I'm still not convinced whatever Lord & Miller would've done with Solo would've turned out worse than the Ron Howard version.

I realize people were likely going nuts after Solo under-performed and thought going back to Abrams was going to get the results you wanted again, but you can't always just fix your movie problems by going back to what you think worked before.

And you know, maybe Trevorrow's vision what made it to screen wouldn't have been a masterpiece either, but I'm not sure it would've been worse than Abrams. And honestly, I do think Trevorrow is still a better writer than Chris Terrio.

 

[Frodo]

I think there are several people responsible for the short comings of the Sequel trilogy, not just Kathleen Kennedy.

Ultimately they knew they wanted a trilogy of films, and they wanted spin offs.

Beyond that, they didn't really have a plan of how they were going to get there , how they wanted these films connected, what direction they wanted to take the franchise, etc.

I won't go as far as to say they were winging it, but they certainly didn't all seem to be on the same page.

They brought on writer/directors who seemed to be not only in conflict with Lucasfilm, but each other. Hence, you have these creators coming and going, having fallouts , projects being pulled or shelved, etc.

At the same, Lucasfilm itself seemingly couldn't decide if they wanted these films to be independent , filmmaker driven pieces, or whether the directors would all follow a formula.

And on top of that, this drama was happening in the social media age with an extremely vocal fanbase and a much more interactive relationship between the filmmakers and fandom.

 

[henzINNIT]

A tell-all from behind the scenes would be fascinating. Much has been said about Disney's lack of a plan, but to be fair we have evidence that the 3rd part of this series had a script before the 2nd was even released. It wasn't a plan they lacked, it was vision. This is why the exec's would constantly second-guess their decisions, shamelessly exploit nostalgia, barely advance any lore and ultimately give everyone whiplash in the process.

I think Kathleen Kennedy has gotten a lot of undeserved flack for her management of Star Wars, Lucasfilm, etc. However, I think there was a definite issue that they wouldn't just stick with the people they hired. Like you hired Lord and Miller to do Solo. Let them direct Solo. Let Trevorrow finish the trilogy.

I'm still not convinced whatever Lord & Miller would've done with Solo would've turned out worse than the Ron Howard version.

I realize people were likely going nuts after Solo under-performed and thought going back to Abrams was going to get the results you wanted again, but you can't always just fix your movie problems by going back to what you think worked before.

And you know, maybe Trevorrow's vision what made it to screen wouldn't have been a masterpiece either, but I'm not sure it would've been worse than Abrams. And honestly, I do think Trevorrow is still a better writer than Chris Terrio.

Deffo repeating myself but I would love to be in the reality where I could look back on Star Wars films by Abrams, Edwards, Johnson, Lord/Miller and Trevorrow, without all the studio nonsense. For better or for worse they'd all be different and more interesting for it.

 

[Frodo]

A tell-all from behind the scenes would be fascinating. Much has been said about Disney's lack of a plan, but to be fair we have evidence that the 3rd part of this series had a script before the 2nd was even released. It wasn't a plan they lacked, it was vision. This is why the exec's would constantly second-guess their decisions, shamelessly exploit nostalgia, barely advance any lore and ultimately give everyone whiplash in the process.
.

I would say they lacked both a vision and a plan. Sure, they had a 3rd script before the second one was released, but it was clear that the first two filmmakers had different ideas for where the story should go.

The 3rd script intended to connect what threads were left, but Colin originally wanted Luke alive for the finale, and its doubtful JJ wanted Snoke dead and Rey's Parent's to be nobody's at the end of the day.

Then once Colin was gone, JJ , in addition to making her "somebody", introduced Palpatine and several others ideas that weren't present in the first two films.

Lucasfilm and Disney had a plan for a trilogy and spinoffs, but they didn't seem to have a plan for keeping all the filmmakers and writers on the same page, nor a plan to connect the stories in such a way they wouldn't contradict each other .

The storyteIling elements of the trilogy is what fans tend to point when they refer to a lack of a plan.

 

[Iceman]

I remember thinking Kylo Ren was a Sith historian and collector, and that Starkiller was an ancient weapon the First Order was unearthing.

The latter I wish was true just so it was a little less like the Death Star.

Yeah that sounds better than Death Star, partly on account of not being Death Star lol, but also something interesting regardless.

 

[henzINNIT]

I would say they lacked both a vision and a plan. Sure, they had a 3rd script before the second one was released, but it was clear that the first two filmmakers had different ideas for where the story should go.

The 3rd script intended to connect what threads were left, but Colin originally wanted Luke alive for the finale, and its doubtful JJ wanted Snoke dead and Rey's Parent's to be nobody's at the end of the day.

Then once Colin was gone, JJ , in addition to making her "somebody", introduced Palpatine and several others ideas that weren't present in the first two films.

Lucasfilm and Disney had a plan for a trilogy and spinoffs, but they didn't seem to have a plan for keeping all the filmmakers and writers on the same page, nor a plan to connect the stories in such a way they wouldn't contradict each other .

The storyteIling elements of the trilogy is what fans tend to point when they refer to a lack of a plan.

As someone who liked TLJ, I have some admitted bias, but I I don't think it matters what JJ had planned (if he even did). Rian Johnson took the ball and moved the story forward. The DOTF script did the same thing. If that film came out and resembled the script we've seen, there is a 3 part story there that functions fine.

Trevorrow wanting Luke alive was a rumour correct? Was it ever confirmed by anyone substantial? I ask because as likely as it looked years ago when this story surfaced, the script we have now shows that Luke had a pretty significant role as a ghost. A role that wouldn't even work if the character was alive. We also know that Mark Hamill was pretty happy with Trevorrow's take. It's possible that Carrie Fisher's passing changed minds, but I don't think Luke being alive for 9 solves any of the problems that Leia's absence created. I think that story was bull.

It was only TROS that contradicted its predecessors, after the flack that TLJ caught. That film was Disney's cowardly second-guessing in its final form. A film that does its best to say nothing, do nothing, and hopefully not offend anyone.

 

[Lily Adler]

I remember thinking Kylo Ren was a Sith historian and collector, and that Starkiller was an ancient weapon the First Order was unearthing.

The latter I wish was true just so it was a little less like the Death Star.

I feel like this was the plot to a Star Wars video game.