Director Colin Trevorrow Exits 'Star Wars: Episode IX' : 'Our Visions for the Project Differ'

Colin Trevorrow at 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Premiere
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney

Mere months after directors Lord and Miller were fired from the 'Untitled Han Solo Movie,' another 'Star Wars' project is without a director.

Another Star Wars movie has lost its director. Perhaps Ron Howard can save this one, too?

Mere months after Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired from the Untitled Han Solo Movie -- and were quickly replaced by Howard -- Colin Trevorrow has departed Episode IX, which is set to hit theaters on May 24, 2019.

Lucasfilm announced in a statement:

"Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX. Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ. We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon."

Trevorrow, who helmed 2015's blockbuster hit, Jurassic World, was never exactly warmly welcomed into the Star Wars fold. Despite promising "deeply and profoundly satisfying" answers to fan theories ignited by The Force Awakens, there was a petition calling for him to be removed from the threequel as early as January 2016.

"It's funny, I saw that," Trevorrow told ET of fans lobbying for him to be replaced with Star Wars creator George Lucas. "It was on a day where I was at LucasFilm giving this big speech to everyone about how we want to channel the invention and just the raw creativity and the boldness that George brought to these films and not being afraid that we're going to embarrass ourselves by doing something that might be crazy."

Trevorrow's future with the franchise was called into question earlier this year when his summer dramedy-revenge thriller-coming of age film-cancer movie-assassin saga, The Book of Henry, was ripped apart by critics. Whether that played any part in his eventual departure is uncertain, as is which director will now take the reins on Episode IX.

As for the latter, it's nothing Lucasfilm hasn't navigated before: there was the Lord and Miller situation, of course, which seems -- despite initial hesitation from the cast -- to be working out all right, and before that, Fantastic Four reboot director Josh Trank was set to direct a Star Wars standalone film before ultimately exiting the project. Who knew there were so many creative differences in that galaxy far, far away?