"Star Wars" and Its Ever-Changing Boys' Club of Directors
It's hard not to be puzzled by recent director changes in the "Star Wars" series. The latest to be fired is Colin Trevorrow, who was supposed to direct "Star Wars: Episode IX." He follows Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who were fired during production on the untitled Han Solo film (and replaced by Ron Howard), and Josh Trank, who was either supposed to direct the Han Solo movie or the Luke Skywalker one--no one seems to know for sure. Then there's Gareth Edwards, who received directorial credit for "Rogue One" but was relieved during production by its screenwriters, Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy. Because Weitz and Gilroy did extensive reshoots and fixed the third act, they are widely credited with the success "Rogue One."
Producer Kathleen Kennedy's formula for directors seems to be: find them at Sundance, give them a bigger picture and then move them up at warp speed to "Star Wars." Hence Trevorrow, whose successful indie film "Safety Not Guaranteed" led him to direct "Jurassic World." The critical and box office failure of his latest, "The Book of Henry," sealed his fate on "Star Wars: Episode IX," but shouldn't have been his modest resume? Phil Lord and Chris Miller's animated hit "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" led them to "21 Jump Street" and "The Lego Movie," but none of the three predicted a successful transition to the world's biggest franchise. Josh Trank's indie hit "Chronicle" gave him the director spot on "Fantastic Four,"--again, not an obvious pathway to "Star Wars" glory.
As every knows, there has never been an experienced woman director of a "Star Wars" film, much less one with as little directing experience as these men. Women with critically successful first films tend to spend years trying to finance their second, not juggling action film offers from major studios as their male peers do. Often they wind up directing TV shows--hardly the purgatory it used to be, but not the same as having their name on the poster of the big summer movie. I can think of three excellent women directors with long resumes off the top of my head--Kathryn Bigelow, Mimi Leder and Ava DuVernay. All have successful action and effects films to their credit, but were they even considered for "Star Wars"? It's easy to say they wouldn't want the oversight that comes with the job, but I wonder if any of them were asked.
As it happens, Ava DuVernay--fresh off her Oscar nomination for "13"--is already directing the forthcoming "A Wrinkle in Time" for Disney, which owns "Star Wars." She is the favorite candidate of many fans for "Star Wars: Episode IX" and a likely choice. Let's hope Kathleen Kennedy thinks so too.