Colin Trevorrow reflects on 'Star Wars' departure: 'It can get to the point of being traumatic'

Colin Trevorrow says he has grown to accept the “heartbreaks” of working in the film industry since he left the director’s chair of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Trevorrow had been due to complete the Sequel Trilogy until he left the project in September 2017 and was replaced by The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote at the time that the relationship between Trevorrow and Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy had become “unmanageable” as a result of script disagreements.

Read more: Kathleen Kennedy on Trevorrow’s departure

In a panel discussion this week, organised by Collider as part of Comic-Con@Home, Trevorrow confirmed that “script development” issues were behind his Star Wars exit.

He said they were at the stage of working on art and writing when he stepped aside, with he and Lucasfilm taking “totally different paths” in approaching the material.

He added: “That was just an experience that, obviously you can imagine, it can get to the point of being traumatic when there’s something that you care about that much and you’ve invested that much in it.

“But that’s one of the things that you accept when you take on any role in film, especially when you become a storyteller, that there are gonna be heartbreaks.

“There’s gonna be crushing disappointments and then there’s gonna be victories and hopefully they’ll balance out in the end.”

Read more: Jurassic World short released online

Trevorrow retained a “story by” credit on The Rise of Skywalker and donated his fee for the movie to a British children’s hospice.

A leaked document believed to be a version of his script was circulated online earlier this year, with many fans stating they preferred Trevorrow’s vision — entitled Duel of the Fates — to Abrams’s divisive movie.

Trevorrow has since moved back to the Jurassic World franchise and is back behind the camera for Jurassic World: Dominion, after he ceded control to JA Bayona for 2018’s Fallen Kingdom.

The movie recently got going again after its production was halted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dominion is being shot with an extensive list of safety measures to avoid spreading the virus.

Read more: Sam Neill discusses Jurassic Park return

With dinosaurs released into the world at the end of Fallen Kingdom, the canvas for the new film is huge, with Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum all reprising their iconic Jurassic Park roles.

Producer Frank Marshall has said the movie will begin a “new era” for the franchise, while star Chris Pratt has compared its scale to Avengers: Endgame.