2017 marked a big turning point in “Star Wars” fandom. A few months before the release of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” to a divided reaction, filmmaker Colin Trevorrow exited “Star Wars Episode IX” just several months before filming was set to begin in early 2018.
His ousting from the film continued a trend at that time of Lucasfilm ditching its helmers, from the firing of Phil Lord and Chris Miller on “Solo,” to Tony Gilroy’s overhauling of Gareth Edwards’ “Rogue One,” and Josh Trank being taken off another spin-off.
Of course, J.J. Abrams ended up coming back to the franchise to helm “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” the rushed and sloppily constructed sequel trilogy capper that was the most widely rejected of the three films, if not the whole franchise (give or take an ‘Attack of the Clones’).
In the years since, details and art from Colin Trevorrow’s unmade original version of that saga ending have leaked online at times, showing a different vision that appears to have been better received by fans than what we saw in ‘Rise’.
One person who won’t be reading any leaks is actor John Boyega who plays Finn in the films. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he was initially shocked Trevorrow’s script was available online and feels sad he didn’t get to work on that version of the film:
“I can’t read that one ’cause I’d be heartbroken. I was…I had a sit down with Colin, and I gotta tell you that was one of the best ‘Star Wars’ meetings I’ve ever had because it felt like two nerds who were like, ‘Yesssss! That’s what we want to see!’
I saw the [concept] art, Stormtrooper rebellion, I’m like… that stuff was cool, and hopefully, Lucasfilm will give him an opportunity down the line to work on something else cause I’m sure they would love to collaborate with him again in any capacity.”
The talk also dealt with one element involving his character that only seems to reveal itself in ‘Rise of Skywalker’ – that of Finn’s force-sensitive nature. Boyega indicates that was the plan from the start with Abrams circling back to it in the final installment:
“It was a discussion from ‘[Episode] 7’ that was brewing, but you didn’t know which way it was going to go, and then ‘[Episode] 8’ went in another direction, and so I think when [you’re] going in another direction when you bringing [back] someone for the third [film], they kinda have to appreciate what has happened in ‘[Episode 8],’ but still try and make a narrative of it.
JJ really wanted… ‘Force Awakens,’ the movie that JJ directed, he was kind of plotting a trajectory, but obviously, with the creative differences in the middle, he still wanted to force it in there. So that’s where you get that moment with Finn and Jenna and [she] asks him, ‘How do you know?’ and he just says, ‘It’s a feeling,’ and [JJ] just had to get something in there that told you why there was a Stormtrooper who held his own long enough against a Sith, or Sith wannabe to a certain extent with Kylo.”
Since the release of “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” back in late 2019, no further “Star Wars” series have graced the big screen, with the franchise sticking to small screen outings like “The Mandalorian”. It’s still presently not clear when “Star Wars” will return to cinemas, aside from the “Rogue One” re-release, which is in select theaters this weekend.
