Trevorrow boarded the "Star Wars" sequel in August 2015 and wrote a screenplay with his writing partner Derek Connolly.

Colin Trevorrow did not get to see his vision for “Star Wars: Episode IX” make the transition from script to screen, but he tells Empire that he will always cherish the time he spent working on the sequel. The “Jurassic World” director opened up about his exit from the Lucasfilm tentpole by choosing to focus only on the positives from his experience, which included sharing his idea for “Episode IX” with George Lucas and Mark Hamill.

“I don’t want to talk too much about it because I don’t want to affect the way that fans get to see these films,” Trevorrow told Empire. “When we were kids, these movies came to us from far away. They were a gift. And the more we talk about how they’re made, the more it reveals that they’re just movies. But they’re not just movies, they’re more than that. Beyond that, I got the opportunity to tell a story that is a celebration of everything I believe in, I got to tell it to George Lucas and I got to tell it to Luke Skywalker, and those are experiences I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

Lucasfilm announced in August 2015 that Trevorrow would direct “Episode IX” from a script co-written with his writing partner Derek Connolly. Trevorrow was removed in September 2017. The studio’s official statement at the time read: “Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on ‘Star Wars: Episode IX.’ Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ. We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon.”

Trevorrow’s exit from “Star Wars” was announced a few months after the critical and box office failure of his passion project, “The Book of Henry.” Universal Pictures announced in March Trevorrow would direct the third installment in its “Jurassic World” trilogy, which the filmmaker helped launch by directing the 2015 first installment.

J.J. Abrams, who directed “The Force Awakens,” will return to the “Star Wars” franchise to direct “Episode IX.” The film has a release date set for December 20, 2019.

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