Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker co-writer Chris Terrio says he and director J.J. Abrams did not use any of Colin Trevorrow’s original script. Back in 2015, when Trevorrow was coming off the record-breaking success of Jurassic World, he was hired to helm Star Wars 9. He developed the project for a couple of years, but eventually parted ways with Lucasfilm due to creative differences. In fall 2017, the studio brought Abrams and Terrio onboard to work on the movie that went on to become The Rise of Skywalker, which debuted in theaters a couple of weeks ago.
In the build-up to The Rise of Skywalker, fans were a little surprised to learn Trevorrow and his co-writer Derek Connolly would receive a story credit on the film - even though Trevorrow left before the first draft of his script was completed. This led some to believe Abrams & Terrio had integrated some of Trevorrow’s concepts into their screenplay, but apparently any similarities between the two were a coincidence. When Abrams & Terrio started their process, they were working with a clean slate.
Speaking with The Wrap, Terrio discussed The Rise of Skywalker’s writing credits, explaining he and Abrams intentionally made sure they did their own thing without looking at what came before:
Considering Trevorrow’s script was the primary reason behind his Star Wars 9 departure, this process is logical. Abrams & Terrio clearly wanted to avoid being influenced by anything Trevorrow had done before them, ensuring The Rise of Skywalker was the product of where they wanted to take the sequel trilogy’s story. It’s unknown what went into the Writers Guild’s decision making, but at first glance, there is some common ground between the two versions. Prior to Carrie Fisher’s death, Star Wars 9 was going to reveal Leia as the galaxy’s last Jedi, giving her a bigger role in the movie. The Rise of Skywalker, which was forced to use archived footage of the late Fisher, featured Leia as Rey’s new master and depicted Luke training Leia as a Jedi. Obviously, Leia’s Star Wars 9 role had to change, but it appears Abrams and Trevorrow (unknowingly) had the same idea for the character’s arc.
“We are both a little superstitious about starting with material that might lead us in a direction that’s different than the one we might’ve gone in naturally. So we didn’t begin with the previous script, there may have been certain elements that we used that had been in the original script and we weren’t aware of it. The Guild makes the determination about those things. We didn’t have a bad relationship to Colin’s material. We just didn’t start with it. It’s not a juicy story of intrigue or anything.”
There were, of course, major differences, such as Emperor Palpatine’s return (which Trevorrow claims came from Abrams), and it’ll be interesting to see if any details about Trevorrow’s Star Wars 9 ever see the light of the day. With The Rise of Skywalker earning mixed reactions, there might be some interest in learning about what Trevorrow had planned and if it would have been better than what Abrams & Terrio came up with. There’s always a chance additional information comes out, but similar to Phil Lord & Chris Miller’s cut of Solo: A Star Wars Story, it wouldn’t be surprising if Trevorrow’s take on Star Wars 9 was just lost to history.
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Source: The Wrap
