8 Movies Where The Worst Version Got Made

4. Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise Of Skywalker

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker Kylo Ren Rey
Lucasfilm

J. J. Abrams and Chris Terrio's story for Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker is a perfect lesson in how not to make a sequel, from its infuriating attempts at relitigating Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi, to its cheap shots at invoking nostalgia for the original Star Wars trilogy. It is a bad film - easily the worst Star Wars entry (I will not hear a bad word about The Phantom Menace, sorry) - and one that could have easily been less bad had Lucasfilm committed to the story being developed by the director Abrams' replaced: Colin Trevorrow.

Jurassic World director Trevorrow was originally unveiled as the director of Episode IX in 2015, a few months prior to the release of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. However, Trevorrow was booted off the project in 2017 as a result of creative differences, with Abrams replacing him as director and Chris Terrio also stepping in to draft a new screenplay, which included the now infamous "somehow, Palpatine returned" zinger in the opening 10 minutes.

Trevorrow's script, titled Duel of the Fates, was leaked shortly after the release of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. While bizarre in some respects, Duel of the Fates swings for the fences where Skywalker merely piddles sadly in the corner. It drew upon the themes of The Last Jedi, committing to Kylo Ren as a villain haunted by the ghost of Luke, continuing Rey's journey as a Jedi with her own double-bladed lightsaber, and even having Finn and Rose in a Les Mis-style uprising on Coruscant, which had fallen under Imperial control.

It's impossible to say whether or not Trevorrow would've nailed the landing (and it is doubtful, given the director's track record on Jurassic World). But in concept alone, Duel of the Fates is way more fascinating, ambitious, and cohesive than The Rise of Skywalker.

Advertisement
Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.