Jurassic World Director Colin Trevorrow was the first choice for Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, but after working on a script for nearly two years he exited the project. A supposed draft of his version of the film has leaked, but how different is it?
Back in 2015, LucasFilm hired Colin Trevorrow to direct the finale of the current Star Wars trilogy, but due to creative differences, the torch was passed to J.J. Abrams. Trevorrow’s vision was dismissed, and his story was no longer the focus of the film.
However, due to a YouTube video posted by Robert Mayer Burnett breaking down the supposed leaked draft of Colin Trevorrow’s version of the film, it seems like there’s plenty of differences between Abrams and Chris Terrio’s screenplay and his.
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Firstly, the supposed title is Star Wars Episode IX: Duel of the Fates.
For those that have watched Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, that title should be familiar. The famous piece of music by John Williams that plays during Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn’s battle with Darth Maul has the same title.
The opening crawl is also very different, too. According to the leak, It reads:
"“The iron grip of the FIRST ORDER has spread to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Only a few scattered planets remain unoccupied. Traitorous acts are punishable by death. Determined to suffocate a growing unrest, Supreme Leader KYLO REN has silenced all communication between neighboring systems. Led by GENERAL LEIA ORGANA, the Resistance has planned a secret mission to prevent their annihilation and forge a path to freedom…”"
As you can see, there’s no mention of Emperor Palpatine at all. It feels very much like Colin Trevorrow and his writing partner Derek Connolly continue the focus of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi instead of taking the direction TROS did. Further details about the actual story reveal a very different take as well.
Rose Tico is much more of a central character, assisting Poe Dameron, Finn, and BB-8 in stealing a Star Destroyer at the start of the film. It’s such a shame Rose doesn’t play a big role in Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker, especially as she was so important in Star Wars VIII: The Last Ledi. Trevorrow saw her potential, and it’s unclear exactly why Abrams changed this.
Other major plot points including a trip for Finn and Rose to Coruscant to power up an ancient Jedi artifact that will bring other heroes and fighters to aid them in their battle against the First Order. Finn leads an army of defected Stormtroopers into battle, too, which is a nice nod to his origins.
“Broom Boy” also makes a return to the film. At the end of Duel of the Fates, Rey is waiting to train the new generation of Jedi, and he is indeed one of them. It’s also worth noting that Rey’s parents were still nobody important to the franchise. Colin Trevorrow used much of Rian Johnson’s blueprint for his draft, bringing the new ideas he created and building upon them.
As for Kylo Ren, his story is unrecognisable from the finished product. He does indeed go to Mustafar, but goes to Vader’s castle where he is haunted by the Force ghost of Luke Skywalker, even fighting a vision of Darth Vader, much like Luke did in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
Whilst there, Kylo Ren meets Palpatine’s Sith teacher, Tor Valum. He’s gone a bit nuts, and wants to bring about the death of both Jedi and Sith. Rey also wants to snuff out the Jedi and Sith, but for very different reasons.
The happy ending for Kylo Ren doesn’t happen either. There’s no redemption. Instead, the new Supreme Leader is too far gone to be saved, and ends up dying during a fight with Rey on the planet of Mortis, where she calls on the Force ghosts of Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
As you can see, Colin Trevorrow had a very different idea for the film. He chose to stick closer to Johnson’s vision of Star Wars than Abrams has done, and for much of the draft it might have been a better finale to the Skywalker saga.
What do you think? Could this have been a better version than the one J.J. Abrams created, or would it have been terrible? Let us know what you think in the comments.