Colin Trevorrow jumped into the Hollywood spotlight in 2015 for directing Jurassic World, and he'll return to the director's chair to helm Star Wars: Episode IX. But in between those two projects, he helmed his third theatrical feature film, The Book of Henry, a more personal and character-riven movie to break up his blockbuster work. The drama film was released in theaters last Friday, and since then has been panned by critics. While no director ever wants their movie to fail, Trevorrow admits that he was particularly disappointed by the negative reaction, calling it "heartbreaking." He also said:
It came to us as a bit of a shock. We did not anticipate that level of vitriolic dislike for the film. In the end, do I want to be somebody who pleases both audiences and critics? Absolutely. Is that hugely disappointing? It is.
In terms of scale, The Book of Henry has more in common with Colin Trevorrow's feature film debut, 2012's Safety Not Guaranteed, than either Jurassic World or the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX. But critically, his latest offering hasn't been a hit with critics, ranking at just 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, although the audience score is much higher, resting at 70%. Nevertheless, Trevorrow was disheartened to see The Book of Henry be received too poorly. While he defended his latest movie during his interview with Empire, he also admitted that he didn't realize how much attention would be focused his way because of his contributions to two major movie franchises. Trevorrow continued:
What I may have underestimated is how my visibility as somebody who is responsible for two things that we all care about deeply, and are massive parts of our public consciousness and shared mythology -- how that level of visibility would shine a spotlight that I hadn't considered.
Despite the critical thrashing, Colin Trevorrow is urging audiences to see The Book of Henry for themselves rather than rely solely on reviews. Unfortunately for Trevorrow, financially it's probably too late, as after a week in theaters, the movie has only made around $1 million, and it cost $10 million to make. Still, it hasn't been all bad news regarding The Book of Henry for Trevorrow. He recalled reading one reaction were someone online claimed that because this movie was getting bad reviews, Trevorrow shouldn't be allowed to direct Star Wars: Episode IX. Upon seeing The Book of Henry with their family, this Internet denizen discovered that they actually liked the movie.
You can see The Book of Henry in theaters now if you want to judge it for yourself, but if not, Colin Trevorrow's next directorial venture, Star Wars: Episode IX, comes out on May 26, 2019. Trevorrow also wrote and produced Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which will be released on June 22, 2018.
