Colin Trevorrow’s canceled Star Wars film, Duel Of The Fates, is quickly becoming something of cinematic lore. Initially people were elated when Trevorrow was fired from the project by LucasFilm. But then came J.J. Abrams’s The Rise of Skywalker and people left the theater thinking “Hmmmm, I wonder what Trevorrow had in mind.” Call it buyer’s remorse or whatever you want but a lot of folks were less than thrilled with Abrams’s final Star Wars installment and were longing to know that the alternate road would have looked like.
We will never really know but a few months ago, Trevorrow’s alleged script for Duel Of The Fates leaked online and fans were actually quite pleased. The film was radically different from the one we eventually got and honestly seemed pretty great. It gave us more Rose, far less Palpatine, more Force Ghost Luke, less of Rey’s parents and a much better sense of closure. It also did away with so many of the fan service-y bits From Skywalker that people complained about. All in all, people were impressed with what Trevorrow had in mind.
But like I said, we will never really know what his film would have been like because it’ll never get made and ol’ Colin is likely contractually prohibited from speaking about it. But, YouTuber Mr. Sunday Movies has put together a little animated short containing the best and biggest beats from Trevorrow’s script so we can at least get a sense of what the movie would have felt like. The short is above and it’s fantastic. Great animation, great humor, great pacing. It fits a lot into just a few minutes and it really gives you a good sense at just how different Duel Of The Fates would have been. It’s a fun must-watch.
The more and more I read about Trevorrow’s proposed film, the more and more I wish that we would have gotten it. Abrams did a fine job but he made a film that was trying to please everyone and ended up with a final product that felt soulless. It took no chances, no risks. It was by-the-book and far worse because of that. It felt like a movie made by committee and that’s never a good thing. Say what you want about Trevorrow but at least his proposed movie seemed like a natural conclusion to the new trilogy and the series as a whole instead of something crafted together from message board posts on a Star Wars fansite.
Anyway, give the video above a watch if you want a look at something we’ll never see but wish we could. Gosh, even the film’s title — Duel Of The Fates — is so much better than The Rise of Skywalker.