Josh Trank tanks on Star Wars: Rogue One
By Juan Basadre
Josh Trank is no longer the director for standalone Star Wars movie, Star Wars: Rogue One.
The Hollywood reporter announced Friday that Josh Trank, director of 2012 found-footage superhero movie Chronicle and currently finishing work on the new Fantastic Four, will no longer be directing Star Wars: Rogue One.
Trank released a statement on the official Star Wars website stating:
"“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.”"
This is not entirely surprising as Trank has been in hot water since April when he failed to show up Disney’s Star War’s celebration. Trank claimed (according to his twitter) that he had “the worst flu of his life,” but the Hollywood Reporter cites sources saying that Disney asked him not to attend.
Other rumors are swirling that Trank has drawn the ire of Fox for his work on the Fantastic Four. One could surmise Fox’s opinion of Trank is that Trank tanked on the Fantastic Four.
I, like many fans, am intrigued by the prospect of a standalone Star Wars film and any means to get more Star Wars in my life can’t hurt. However, the only thing worse than not seeing a new Star Wars movie is seeing a bad one. A lack of directorial leadership cant bode well for the movie, but no need to panic quite yet. Star Wars Rogue one is slated for release a year from now, December 2016.