Star Wars 9 director Colin Trevorrow wants to shoot the movie in space

One of the highlights at this year's Sundance Film Festival served up a new tidbit of intel on the future of the Star Wars franchise. Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow participated in a panel alongside Christopher Nolan entitled Power of Story: The Art of Film, in which both filmmakers discussed their preferences for shooting on actual film, instead of digital.

During their chat Trevorrow announced his desire to use film for the upcoming Star Wars sequel. "The only place where I tend to not be able to attach myself entirely to something shot digitally is when it's a period film. There's something in my brain that goes, 'Well, they didn't have video cameras then,' [Film] tends to remind us of our memories, of our childhoods, the way we used to see films."

A period film? Well, they do take place a long time ago, but it's still the first time we've heard a director refer to the sci-fi saga as such. "I could never shoot Star Wars on anything but [film] because it's a period film: It happened a long time ago!"

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Episode IX will now follow in the footsteps of its predecessors; JJ Abrams shot The Force Awakens on film, and Rian Johnson's Episode VIII is also being lensed on celluloid. Trevorrow plans to add further realism to the piece by filming it on location: that is, in the far reaches of outer space. "I asked the question, 'Is it possible for us to shoot IMAX film plates in actual space for Star Wars, and I haven't gotten an answer yet, but they've shot IMAX in space!"

If he manages to pull it off, he'd achieve something that Nolan confirms he attempted with Interstellar; integrating real footage from space into a blockbuster movie. As if that weren't costly enough, shooting it on IMAX no less would put a major dent into the budget. Then again, this is a Star Wars movie.

Directed by Colin Trevorrow, and written by Rian Johnson, Star Wars: Episode IX opens on May 24, 2019.

Images: Lucasfilm