Over a year ago, Chronicle and Fantastic Four director Josh Trank was announced as the man to helm the second of Disney’s Star Wars Anthology movies.
Unfortunately, things change. As of 2 May, Trank is no longer involved in the project. In an official statement released the day before, he stated:
“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. 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.”
Things in the garden were already suspected to be far from rosy when Trank didn’t take to the stage at Star Wars Celebration in April. No word yet on a replacement director, but you’ll know when we do. Stay tuned folks, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
Source: Coming Soon.net
UPDATE!!!: Well…this just got weirder. After what may have been considered a “soft” departure, news sites are now reporting that Josh Trank’s leaving the Star Wars Anthology film may have been more forced than previously stated.
How so? Well, according to numerous sources, Trank’s work on Fantastic Four (which has a reputation in and of itself) seemed to point to the director being quite “erratic” on set. At times, he didn’t even have a clear direction for the film apparently. It was because the producers stepped in that the movie was compiled within the time allowed. Trank also had several random incidents that caused trouble on set, such as buy a couple of dogs and renting a hotel for them to stay in…only for them to trash it. You can’t make this stuff up.
Hearing the reports not only makes you wonder about Fantastic Four, but kind of makes you glad that he’s not on Star Wars anymore. For these spinoff movies especially, you need focus and direction. Apparently, Trank has lost sight of that.
Dave Bowling
Dave was born at an early age to parents of both sexes. He has been a self-confessed geek for as long as he can remember, having been raised through the 80s on a steady diet of Doctor Who, Star Trek, Red Dwarf and (sigh) Knight Rider. Throw the usual assortment of Saturday morning cartoons into the mix and we have something quite exceptional: someone with an encyclopaedic knowledge of utter tosh; a love of giant robots and spaceships fighting; and the strange desire to leap tall buildings in a single bound while wearing his underpants over his trousers. The death ray is currently in the works and one day you shall all bow to him, his giant space station and fleet of funky orange space shuttles...
Nerd Comments