Star Wars: Colin Trevorrow Confirms His Episode IX Title

The nature of the internet can make it difficult to determine what is true and what is a rumor when it comes to pop culture, though filmmaker Colin Trevorrow has seemingly set the record straight about one detail regarding his scrapped plans for Star Wars: Episode IX, which is that the title was intended to be “Duel of the Fates.” This confirmation came from Twitter, with the director replying to a fan who inquired about the authenticity of supposed leaked concept art from the project, with Trevorrow’s reference to the abandoned project as “Duel of the Fates” serving as the confirmation of the rumored title.

“Yes, this is from Duel of the Fates,” the filmmaker confirmed. Though he did clarify about the concept art, “But I’d never kill R2…he just took a bad hit. Happens to all of us.”

With the final chapter in the Skywalker Saga essentially being 42 years in the making, Lucasfilm clearly considered a number of avenues to explore, and with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker earning some of the worst critical reviews in the franchise’s history, fans have begun to speculate about the various abandoned ideas that could have made it into the film.

Following the release of Jurassic World and that film going on to become one of the biggest box-office earners in history, Trevorrow was tapped to direct Episode IX in 2015. In the fall of 2017, Lucasfilm announced it was parting ways with Trevorrow and that Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams was stepping in to helm the picture. Understandably, fans began to speculate about how much progress had been made on the film, though, with Abrams crafting a script with co-writer Chris Terrio, it had seemed as though the entire story had been scrapped.

Trevorrow ultimately earned a Story By credit on the film, as both a rumored script and concept art began to make their way around the internet earlier this month. With concept art from Abrams’ film also making its way online around the same time, it was difficult to determine the authenticity of any of these details, with Trevorrow’s confirmation at least partially clearing up some of his original concepts for the film.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in theaters now.

Do you wish we had gotten to see Trevorrow’s film? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!