Colin Trevorrow confirms that Star Wars: Episode IX will shoot on film

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Sadly, feature films which are shot on celluloid are becoming more and more rare each year; sure, directors like Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan are able to use their clout in order to use the medium they feel is best, but more and more studios and directors are making their preference for digital clear. Digital cameras have definitely come a long way over the past decade and continue to improve each year, but there's still something magical about real film which is hard to replicate.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS was able to shoot on film, as will Rian Johnson's STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII, and although it comes as no surprise, Colin Trevorrow has confirmed that STAR WARS: EPISODE IX will also shoot on film. While speaking at the Sundance Film Festival during a "Power of Story: The Art of Film" panel alongside Christopher Nolan and Rachel Morrison, Trevorrow spoke about his preference for film over digital when it comes to "period films."

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. I could never shoot Star Wars on anything but [film] because it's a period film: It happened a long time ago!

I'm grateful that we have a talented (and vocal) group of artists keeping film alive, shooting on digital is fun and gives anyone the ability to make their own movie, but I wouldn't trade my experiences of shooting and developing my own short films in a dark room for anything in the world. Christopher Nolan hopes that film schools will be "shamed" back into using film, saying:

You're not teaching that this is one of the choices, and you're not teaching the discipline that the entire film industry is based on, because we still mix in reels, we still count in frames, even if we're shooting digital. You have to understand how an Avid works, to understand how all the latest technology applied to film works, you're much better off as part of your education if you understand how film works, because that's where it comes from. The film schools really need to gear up with that.

Colin Trevorrow also revealed that he's asked if he could shoot the movie "on location," meaning…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!" Nolan then chimed in, saying "funny enough, we had that conversation with Interstellar, there's incredible footage from space now." As cool as it would be to feature actual space in a Star Wars film, if Christopher Nolan couldn't get it done, I have my doubts that Colin Trevorrow would fare any better.

STAR WARS: EPISODE IX is set for a May 24, 2019 release.