Let’s not forget that the studio had its own bout of questionable luck recently by having to replace Chris Lord and Phil Miller as the directors of the untitled Han Solo spin-off late into production.
Though seeing as Trevorrow is still named as Episode IX’s director, it looks like this course correction isn’t as severe as that of the previous circumstance.
With that film provoking a pretty strong response by both critics and audiences, there’s a distinct possibility that Lucasfilm’s top brass wanted to play damage control before things went too far.
Of course, there are some questions as to why this change announced by The Hollywood Reporter had to come, especially not too long after the box office debacle that was Colin Trevorrow’s The Book of Henry.