Star Wars: Episode 9 director Colin Trevorrow has responded to fan petition asking George Lucas to replace him

'I just want to embrace that kind of invention and creativity that he brought to it'

George Lucas in Vanity Fair's video (Vanity Fair)

A few weeks ago, a bunch of Star Wars fans started a petition urging Disney to get George Lucas back to direct Episode IX, with almost 22,000 people having signed it so far.

First of all, Lucas and Disney’s relationship is already a little ‘on edge’, especially after the director called them “white slavers” in a recent interview, a statement he has since apologised for.

Secondly - as acknowledged by the petitioners - there is already a director on board to direct the final part of the sequel trilogy, Colin Trevorrow.

Luckily, the man behind last year’s Jurassic World seems alright about the whole thing, acknowledging he has seen it and want’s to channel the “raw creativity” of Lucas into the film.

"It's funny, I saw that, and 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,” he told Entertainment Tonight.

"When George Lucas made Star Wars, a lot of people thought it was crazy. When you try to pitch what that movie's about - if you've never heard of Star Wars before, you say, ‘Here's a character. His father's part robot, but he can also do magic. And there's a guy who can fly in a spaceship. He's got a dog for a friend!' - it sounds insane."

He finishes by saying: ”But it's the greatest story ever told. I just want to embrace that kind of invention and creativity that he brought to it.”

For fans, it is great to hear that someone with a vision for change is helming the episode, particularly because The Force Awakens came under scrutiny for being A New Hope “rip-off”.

JJ Abrams later responded to that accusation, which you can read about here. Meanwhile, Episode VIII is also in good hands with Rian Johnson, here’s why.