As fans still anxiously await the impending arrival of the Star Wars sequel trilogy’s kickoff this December with Episode VII: The Force Awakens, it could be the case that the identity of the director who will helm the series’ 2019 swan song has been revealed. According to an early report, Colin Trevorrow, the up and coming filmmaker behind this summer’s Jurassic World will be named the director of the unnamed Star Wars: Episode IX.
According to a report from Heroic Hollywood’s Umberto Gonzalez, the bonanza of bountiful news at Comic Con will see today’s Star Wars panel officially reveal that Trevorrow, Jurassic World’s cinematic curator of cenozoic carnage will be making the franchise jump to the rabidly anticipated Star Wars sequel coda. No further details were provided in the report. Likewise, nothing has been officially confirmed at the time of this article. However, given the fact that Trevorrow, in just his second feature film has hit a $1.4 billion jackpot with a big-budget tent-pole piece, the news certainly carries a ring of truth.
The job would certainly cement Trevorrow’s status as the fastest rising director in the industry. Armed with only a few short films on his resume, Trevorrow would make a notable mark helming his first full-length feature in the small 2012 Internet-meme-inspired comedy, Safety Not Guaranteed with Mark Duplass and Aubrey Plaza. From there, his career as a filmmaker took a rather shockingly dramatic sophomore leap when he was given directorial duties for franchise revival, Jurassic World. While the move might have been seen as a scheme by Universal to save money in hiring a greenhorn director to perform perfunctory filming duties while under the guidance of experienced producers, it seems that Trevorrow’s contributions to the vision of the super-successful sequel were apparent.
Should the news of Trevorrow's new gig prove true, it would actually come as a bit of a surprise. With a firmly established big budget popcorn commodity in J.J. Abrams in the director’s chair for Episode VII: The Force Awakens, the new trilogy was seemingly placed in his capable genre-experienced hands with the purpose of shaping the tonal template. When it was later announced that Rian Johnson would be assuming directorial duties for Episode VIII, it might have been assumed that the middle chapter was on autopilot as Abrams’ talents were utilized elsewhere in the ever-expanding franchise; possibly helping develop the spinoff films. Yet, there was a certain expectation that Abrams would return to cap-off what he started. With Trevorrow prospectively providing the directorial vision for Episode IX, it would reflect a rotation of helmers in the new trilogy similar to the original Star Wars trilogy, which saw George Lucas cede the director’s chair to Irvin Kershner and later, Richard Marquand.
The franchise of all franchises will return when the JJ.Abrams-directed Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18. The hopefully magnificent middle act in the Rian Johnson-directed Episode VII will make its impact on May 26, 2017. Finally, the gig that Colin Trevorrow may have landed in the concluding Episode IX will arrive on a currently undetermined date in 2019.
