Star Wars: Episode IX Director Reportedly Fired For Being 'Difficult, Unbearable'

Did past success get the best of a former Star Wars director?

Earlier this week, Disney and Lucasfilm announced that they were parting ways with Star Wars: Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow, a move that few saw coming, as the helmer has been attached to the project for more than two years. The official Lucasfilm-stamped press release chalked the decision up to "creative differences," but new details have surfaced, suggesting that there was something much larger at play. 

Vulture has published an article detailing the "speculation from a ranking Hollywood movie insider" with "direct knowledge" of the productions of two of Trevorrow's past films, The Book of Henry and Jurassic World. According to the executive, who requested anonymity to protect ongoing professional relationships, the director's firing may have come as a consequence of him being "difficult," "egotistical," and overly confident in his filmmaking abilities.

"During the making of Jurassic World, [Trevorrow] focused a great deal of his creative energies on asserting his opinion. But because he had been personally hired by Spielberg, nobody could say, 'You're fired.' Once that film went through the roof and he chose to do Henry, [Trevorrow] was unbearable. He had an egotistical point of view—and he was always asserting that," the individual explained.

Trevorrow's alleged newfound outlook, paired with the subsequent commercial and critical failure of Book of Henry apparently didn't sit well with Lucasfilm executives, especially president Kathleen Kennedy. "When the reviews for Book of Henry came out, there was immediately conjecture that Kathy [Kennedy] was going to dump him [from Episode IX] because they weren't thrilled with working with him anyway," said the executive. 

During early production on Episode IX, Trevorrow's relationship with Lucasfilm reportedly deteriorated even further, becoming entirely "unmanageable" (via The Hollywood Reporter). The multiple script drafts apparently also placed strain on the working dynamic, as it's been said they didn't satisfy the Lucasfilm top brass. 

"He's a difficult guy. He's really, really, really confident. Let's call it that," the executive stated.

As it stands, this information is purely speculation, even though it's apparently coming from an inside source. The true reason for Trevorrow's sudden exit will remain unclear until Lucasfilm and/or Disney step forward and issue a formal statement. 

In any case, the Star Wars franchise hasn't had the best of luck with directors, with Trevorrow's departure coming just a few months after Chris Miller and Phil Lord were reportedly fired from the upcoming Han Solo standalone. Their firings were initially reported as the result of creative differences, as was Trevorrow's, but later information stated that the pair "believed they were hired to make a comedy" and deviated too heavily from the script set in place, and that's why they were let go.

Whilewait to hear who will fill Trevorrow's shoes for the pic, take a look at some other directors who were fired during filming.