Having been absent from the ‘Gareth Edwards and Josh Trank’ panel at Star Wars Celebration last month due to “flu”, it has been announced tonight that Josh Trank (Chronicle, Fantastic Four) has vacated the director’s chair on Disney’s second Star Wars Anthology standalone movie.
“After a year of having the incredible honor of developing with the wonderful and talented people at Lucasfilm, I’m making a personal decision to move forward on a different path,” said Trank. “I’ve put a tremendous amount of thought into this, and I know deep down in my heart that I want to pursue some original creative opportunities. That said, the Star Wars universe has always been one of my biggest influences, and I couldn’t be more excited to witness its future alongside my millions of fellow Star Wars fans. I want to thank my friends Kathleen Kennedy, Kiri Hart, Simon Kinberg, and everyone at Lucasfilm and Disney for the amazing opportunity to have been a part of this. May the Force be with you all.”
Lucasfilm also posted its own announcement, stating that: “It was a privilege to collaborate with Josh. We are grateful for the energy and love of Star Wars that he brought to the process, and we wish him all the best.”
UPDATE: According to THR, “Trank was asked by Disney executives not to attend the [Celebration] event… Rumors have persisted that Fox is unhappy with Trank’s performance on Fantastic Four and that Kinberg, who is producing both that film and the second Star Wars spinoff, was getting cold feet about working with Trank again.”
Disney and Lucasfilm will now need to find a replacement for the 2018 release, which has been penned by Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back) and Simon Kinberg (Star Wars Rebels). The plot for the film is being kept tightly under wraps.
Are you disappointed that Josh Trank has left the Star Wars spin-off, and who would you like to see taking on the reins?
