In the L.A. Times, director Josh Trank addresses why he dropped out of the second Star Wars Anthology film.
“I want to do something original after [Fantastic Four] because I’ve been living under public scrutiny, as you’ve seen, for the last four years of my life,” he said. “And it’s not healthy for me right now in my life. I want to do something that’s below the radar.”
“I have a great relationship with everyone at Lucasfilm and with Kari Hart,” he continued. “And they all understood it because this whole experience for me has been very psychologically hard.”
Simon Kinberg, also present at the interview, called the rumors that followed Trank’s departure “particularly cruel.”