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    “Star Wars Episode IX” loses director Colin Trevorrow

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2387 Views
    In this June 14, 2017, file photo, Colin Trevorrow, director of "The Book of Henry," poses at the premiere of the film on the opening night of the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival at the ArcLight Culver City in Culver City, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

    By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer

    LOS ANGELES (AP) --

    Colin Trevorrow will no longer be directing "Star Wars: Episode IX." Lucasfilm said Tuesday that the company and the director have mutually chosen to part ways citing differing visions for the project.

    Trevorrow is best known for directing "Jurassic World" and has been working on the ninth installment of the space saga for some time. He was officially announced as the director of "Episode IX" in August of 2015 and has been co-writing the script as well. It is the final installment in the new "main" Star Wars trilogy that began with J.J. Abrams' "The Force Awakens" in 2015 and will continue this December with director Rian Johnson's "The Last Jedi."

    The announcement gave no indication as to whether or not the shakeup would affect the film's previously set May 2019 release date.

    "Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process," the Lucasfilm statement read. "We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon."

    This is the latest upheaval in the Star Wars universe. Earlier this year the young Han Solo spinoff film parted ways with director Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and replaced them with Ron Howard deep into production. And in 2015, the company fired director Josh Trank from work on another Star Wars spinoff.

    Extensive reshoots on the anthology film "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" led to widespread speculation that director Gareth Edwards had been unofficially sidelined on that project as well.

    Tags:Colin TrevorrowStar WarsStar Wars: Episode IX



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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