When Colin Trevorrow released his feature film debut, “Safety Not Guaranteed,” he was a critical darling. The film currently holds a 90% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. His next film, “Jurassic World,” was seen as much less of a creative success, but that film went on to do record-breaking box office. Trevorrow then signed on to direct the last film in the current “Star Wars” trilogy, and it seemed like everything was going right for the director. That is until “Book of Henry” came out earlier this summer.
“Book of Henry” isn’t a great film at all. In our review of the film, Drew Taylor said, “Yes, it’s a reprieve from the maddening summer movie onslaught, but the water at this particular oasis has such a weird taste to it, even an unpleasant option like Coca-Cola might be a better option.” Needless to say, “Star Wars” fans, and Hollywood insider-y types, wondered if Lucasfilm might lay the hammer down on Trevorrow and boot him like they did to Phil Lord and Chris Miller on the “Untitled Han Solo Film.”
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Trevorrow hopes to calm everyone’s nerves by defending himself as a “Star Wars” director. “Not only did I grow up on these stories, like all of us did, [but] I think that the values of ‘Star Wars’ are values that I hold very close and very dear in my life,” he said. “I feel that the message of the way that the Force teaches you to treat other people and show respect for others, and the way it guides you through life, is really important to me. And I hope everybody would realize that that set of stories has affected me as deeply in my life as it has affected them.”
This defense isn’t quite convincing — just because you understand and/or appreciate the Force, doesn’t mean you’ll make the right storytelling decisions. It’s a fairly broad qualifier, to say the least.
Trevorrow continues his defense, “I think the challenge for me is to recognize that everyone has their own personal relationship with these stories, and it’s different depending on who you are. And I need to make a film that you’ll appreciate, even if your experience with it was different, which is making something that will be deeply emotionally resonant and satisfying for people all around the world. And I think about it a lot.”
He’s saying all the right things, but it also sounds like the words of a man who has been run through the gauntlet of criticisms and came out a bit bruised. Of course, we all know that he’s not alone in the filmmaking process over at Lucasfilm. So, if there is anyone that is a little concerned, just remember that Kathleen Kennedy will make sure the movie delivers, and there’s a massive team around Trevorrow as well.
“There tends to be a lot of assumptions made about control, but the reality is, it’s a collaboration,” he explained. “It’s not me locked in a room with the producers trying to get in and me saying, ‘I’m making my decisions!’ It is a much more collaborative process. I think that except for very, very rare circumstances, there is no such thing as final cut anymore. And I think the best-case scenario for any film is that the producer and the writer and the director are all on the same page and making the same movie.”
Audiences will find out how Trevorrow handles this pressure and if everyone stays on the same page when “Star Wars: Episode IX” opens on May 24, 2019.
