Amid the signs of directors' diminished clout, some visionary filmmakers stand tall in Toronto

TORONTO - Two days before the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival got under way, the news broke that Colin Trevorrow would no longer be directing "Star Wars: Episode IX," marking the latest high-profile split between Lucasfilm and a filmmaker hired to steer one of its most closely guarded properties. One week later, it was announced that Trevorrow would be replaced by J.J. Abrams, a known franchise quantity who successfully steered 2015's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

As my colleagues Josh Rottenberg and Daniel Miller noted in a report last week, these twin industry bombshells are the latest signs of a Hollywood business model that, in pursuit of brand consistency and franchise