Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron’s futures are looking murky if you ask some Star Wars fans online. Colin Trevorrow’s slated to direct the as-yet-unnamed Star Wars: Episode IX, and many Star Wars fans are debating whether or not his new film The Book of Henry — a critical failure and burgeoning internet joke — will have any effect on his helming the final film of the trilogy.
A majority of the critical reviews, verging from plain scathing to hilariously so, all express the same concern: If The Book of Henry is this bad, what does that mean for Episode IX?
Well, honestly, it doesn’t mean a lot.
Before The Book of Henry, the last film Trevorrow directed was 2015’s Jurassic World, which received a respectable critical score of 72 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and an “audience score” of 78 percent, meaning 78 percent of average Joes enjoyed it. In comparison, The Book of Henry has, as of the time of this article’s publishing, received a dismal 25 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and, despite what you might be hearing online, a 74 percent approval rating from audiences.
Critics might not be too hot on The Book of Henry, but fans are seeming to take to the Naomi Watts and Jacob Tremblay-led project pretty well.
It’s easy enough to assume that, with the timing, Trevorrow’s work on Jurassic World — which proved he can work with a classic, beloved series and make something for the 21st century that people, overall, respond to positively — is what got him the Episode IX gig. If y’all liked Jurassic World so much, then maybe give Trevorrow another shot at a sci-fi action movie with fun, ridiculous characters. It’s as simple as that.
But, damn, if some of these tweets savaging Book of Henry aren’t great.
The Book of Henry is now in theaters, and Star Wars: Episode IX is expected to premiere on May 24, 2019.
