It appears Lucasfilm removed Colin Trevorrow from Star Wars: Episode IX over issues with his first draft. While the box office success of Disney's new Star Wars movies can't be denied, the studio has developed something of an image problem when it comes to working with directors. Tony Gilroy has since confirmed he was brought on to fix director Gareth Edwards Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with the film apparently being a 'mess' and in 'terrible trouble' when he came onboard in post-production to oversee extensive reshoots and re-editing.
Then came the news original Solo: A Star Wars Story helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired when the film was mere weeks away from completing principal photography. Their vision of Solo apparently clashed with that of Lucasfilm, and director Ron Howard was quickly hired to reshoot the vast majority of the movie. Finally, Colin Trevorrow was hired to write and direct Star Wars: Episode IX, only to taken off the project and replaced with The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams in late 2017.
Related: Solo: Lord & Miller Didn't Challenge For Director Credit
Reports surrounding Trevorrow's departure cited stories he could be difficult to work with and the failure of his drama The Book Of Henry as possible reasons for his replacement. Now a report by the Wall Street Journal (via ComicBook) suggests the real reason was down to his first draft for the movie. Apparently, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy wasn't happy with his work, with Trevorrow himself evidently being frustrated with the story. While he asked for a chance to rewrite it, Lucasfilm decided to let him go.
It's likely that in the years ahead the real, unvarnished stories behind the production issues on both Trevorrow's Episode IX and Lord & Miller's Solo: A Star Wars Story will come out, but for now, all sides are staying professional about the situation. If Lucasfilm was unhappy with Trevorrow's work on the script that sounds like a plausible reason to part ways, but if there were likely other factors involved in the decision beyond that.
Following his Star Wars: Episode IX exit, Trevorrow has since signed on to direct Jurassic World 3. In addition to directing Jurassic World, he also co-written all 3 of the new trilogy. Trevorrow has also stated the next movie will move away from dinosaur hybrids and will be more of a science thriller like the original Jurassic Park was.
