It’s May the 4th today, which means that there are plenty of Star Wars-related festivities taking place around the world, but there was one decidedly non-celebratory announcement quietly made by Lucasfilm over the weekend in the hopes of having it go unnoticed. Josh Trank, director of Chronicle and the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, was attached to direct one of the standalone Star Wars spin-offs, but fans were disappointed after he failed to show up for one of the panels at Star Wars Celebration last month. At the time, it was being blamed on illness, but now we know the truth: he is no longer directing the film. The question is, why did he leave and was it by choice? Here’s the official statement from Josh Trank himself:

“After a year of having the incredible honor of developing with the wonderful and talented people at Lucasfilm, I’m making a personal decision to move forward on a different path. I’ve put a tremendous amount of thought into this, and I know deep down in my heart that I want to pursue some original creative opportunities. That said, the Star Wars universe has always been one of my biggest influences, and I couldn’t be more excited to witness its future alongside my millions of fellow Star Wars fans. I want to thank my friends Kathleen Kennedy, Kiri Hart, Simon Kinberg, and everyone at Lucasfilm and Disney for the amazing opportunity to have been a part of this. May the Force be with you all.”

THR, on the other hand, tells a slightly different version of the story. Insiders say that Trank’s behaviour during the production of Fantastic Four was “erratic” and that he was “sometimes indecisive and uncommunicative.” Simon Kinberg was a producer on the film and was said to be unhappy with his performance, especially since he was forced to pull in several other people to help finish the movie. Kinberg is also producing the Star Wars film and seems to have been a major influence on the decision to cut Trank loose.

Either way, it is disappointing to hear that Trank is squandering some of the big opportunities he is being presented with. It seems like this is one of the risks associated with bringing small indie directors on board major studio blockbusters without enough experience. Are you disappointed to hear that Josh Trank is no longer directing a Star Wars film?