We Finally Know How Colin Trevorrow Really Felt About His Leaked Star Wars Duel Of The Fates Script
For "Jurassic World Dominion," Colin Trevorrow has come back onboard to direct the final installment of the trilogy that began in 2015 with the first "Jurassic World." However, there was a time when Trevorrow was set to helm another big trilogy ender: namely, the third movie in Disney's "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, which also began in 2015 with "The Force Awakens."
Trevorrow had written a script called "Duel of the Fates," which took its name from the piece of John Williams music that plays during the two-on-one lightsaber duel with Darth Maul in "The Phantom Menace." He and Lucasfilm parted ways over the project in 2017, even before "The Last Jedi" hit theaters, and the studio subsequently replaced him with returning "Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams (just as Trevorrow himself would later take back over the "Jurassic World" series from "Fallen World" director J.A. Bayona).
After "The Rise of Skywalker," the script for "Duel of the Fates" leaked online. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Trevorrow discussed the reaction to his leaked script, saying:
"Honestly, if any director tells you that they don't care what the audience thinks, or even people who watch movies and write about them for a living, then I'm not sure if they're being fully honest with themselves. I do make these movies for audiences, but I also make them for people who think about film all the time and watch movies the way that I do. [...] Any time you do something that's received well, it's going to encourage you and hopefully assure you that not only was there a reason why you started doing this in the first place, but your imposter syndrome is only partially real and you're not a complete fraud. (Laughs.) And I think we all have those moments."
Trevorrow on Battle at Big Rock
Looking for validation from fans or even critics can be a double-edged sword. It's arguably where "The Rise of Skywalker" ran into trouble: by catering too much to some amorphous fan desire. One can't help but wonder if "Duel of the Fates" would have faced more scrutiny had it moved from the script to the actual screen like that film did. At the same time, Trevorrow's attitude seems healthy insofar as it recognizes that making movies isn't a solipsistic exercise — something he's only doing for himself — but rather a delivery system for ideas and communication with an audience.
Before directing "Jurassic World: Dominion," Trevorrow helmed a 2018 short called "Battle at Big Rock," starring André Holland ("The Knick"). In his interview with THR, he also discussed how the positive reception to that film boosted his confidence going into "Dominion:"
"Battle at Big Rock, the short that we made, was received in a way that actually really, really made me feel good because I felt like it was me demonstrating what I love most about Jurassic Park, the essence of it for me, in a very pure, simple and straightforward way. So I really loved the reaction to that. That's actually the thing that gave me the way forward."
Reviews for "Jurassic World: Dominion" have been mixed-to-negative out of the gate; it currently holds a 33% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That's unfortunate, but given how much Trevorrow seems to care about pleasing audiences, maybe he can take solace in knowing that its audience score rates higher at 80%. Or maybe numbers like these don't really matter and the important thing for Trevorrow and the other creative people involved is that they got to make a movie — and have a learning experience while doing it.