The original director and writer of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Colin Trevorrow reflects on the response to his version of the script. Trevorrow was hired for Star Wars Episode IX in August 2015, just two months after Jurassic World had opened in theaters to become one of the highest-grossing films of all time. After working on the film for two years, Trevorrow eventually left the project in September 2017, citing creative differences.
J.J. Abrams stepped into the director's chair shortly after and he and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice writer Chris Terrio co-wrote the script together. Trevorrow still received a story by credit alongside his co-writer Derek Connolly. In January 2020, shortly after the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Trevorrow's original draft of the story leaked online with its original planned name Duel of the Fates named after John William's iconic song from Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. The script received far more positive reactions from fans than the finished product, with many wondering what might have been had Trevorrow stayed on board.
In a recent interview with THR promoting the release of Jurassic World: Dominion, the subject of the Duel of the Fates script came up. Trevorrow acknowledged how receiving positive reactions to the story has been encouraging and he made it hoping people would like it. He acknowledges how one can feel imposter syndrome or feel like a fraud, and comments on how that is a relatable moment. When asked if, after everything that went down with the development of the film, does the small victory feel good, Trevorrow said:
"Honestly, if any director tells you that they don’t care what the audience thinks, or even people who watch movies and write about them for a living, then I’m not sure if they’re being fully honest with themselves. I do make these movies for audiences, but I also make them for people who think about film all the time and watch movies the way that I do. Any time you do something that’s received well, it’s going to encourage you and hopefully assure you that not only was there a reason why you started doing this in the first place, but your imposter syndrome is only partially real and you’re not a complete fraud. And I think we all have those moments.”
While Trevorrow's version of Episode IX did receive a fair amount of praise, particularly when compared to the finished film of The Rise of Skywalker, it is important to note that it is a slightly unfair comparison since one is the outline for a film while the other is an actual finished movie. It is unclear what changes Trevorrow would have made to the film's script, and likely would have had to do some big ones to account for the real-life passing of Carrie Fisher, whose Princess Leia character was a major part of his story. Duel of the Fates exists in the minds of fans as a potential what-if although leaked concept art gives an idea of how the film would have looked and an easter egg for it remains in Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland.
In many ways, the Star Wars sequel trilogy and Jurassic World films mirror each other in interesting ways. The director of the first film returned for the third entry in the franchise and was tasked with wrapping up not just the new trilogy but the larger story in the form of the Skywalker Saga or the six-part Jurassic era film series respectively. Both franchise's third entries where the original directors returned are also the worst reviewed entries in their franchise on Rotten Tomatoes, with much of the criticism for each entry being both film's overabundance of fan service and disregarding plot elements set up by the previous films. Both franchises might have gone down a different path had Trevorrow stayed on board what eventually became The Rise of Skywalker and someone else took on Jurassic World: Dominion.
Source: THR
