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The brilliant directors who either turned down or rejected the idea of directing Star Wars projects.
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00:00For a whole host of different reasons, some of the most talented and respected filmmakers in
00:06our own galaxy, many of them being huge Star Wars fans themselves, have either rejected the
00:12opportunity to jump to hyperspace or taken themselves out of the running before a film
00:18was even offered to them. Whatever the reason, when the idea of directing a Star Wars movie came up,
00:23this lot all responded with a no. So I'm Gareth, you're watching What Culture Star Wars,
00:28and here are 10 directors who said no to Star Wars.
00:3210. Quentin Tarantino
00:34Quentin Tarantino movies are known for many things. Graphic violence, brilliant dialogue,
00:41a lot of feed. But they're not what you class as family-friendly pictures? Yeah, not quite.
00:45Still, if the legendary filmmaker fancied having a go at making a new episode or spin-off story for
00:51the ever-growing galaxy far, far away, there's a good chance it would be one of the most compelling,
00:56jaw-dropping, and singular Star Wars projects to date. I'd watch it.
01:01However, based on how Quentin Tarantino reacted when asked about the idea of directing a future
01:06story within the franchise a decade or so ago, it'd be wise not to get one's hopes up about a
01:12cutie Star Wars adventure. When asked by Entertainment Weekly about taking over from
01:16George Lucas for the then-upcoming sequel movies, the Pulp Fiction director responded with a blunt,
01:22I could so care less, before following those words with, nope, sorry, especially if Disney's
01:28going to do it. I'm not interested in the Simon West version of Star Wars. Tell us how you really
01:32feel, Quentin. Tarantino also infamously ranted about Disney forcing the Cinerama drone to play
01:38Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens instead of The Hateful Eight, with the mega company apparently
01:43threatening to not let that theatre or any other arc-like cinemas show the film if they insisted on
01:49honouring their contract to play Tarantino's movie. So this no to Star Wars probably won't
01:54be changing any time soon, in other words.
01:56Number 9, Ridley Scott
01:58The great Ridley Scott revealed recently that he decided to make his legendary Alien movie
02:05instead of Tristan and Isolde after watching the first Star Wars at the cinema. I hope that's
02:10how you say Isolde, if it's not, Ridley's gonna kill me. But just because George Lucas' epic
02:15tale made him want to create that horrifying Xenomorph story, doesn't mean that the icon
02:20wants to dive into the galaxy far, far away himself. As you tell Vulture back in 2017,
02:26Scott actually feels he's too dangerous to be handed the reins of a Star Wars project.
02:31You see, Scott likes to be fully in control of his movies, and he felt that Disney and Lucasfilm
02:36also wanted to be in control of their incoming films too. Yeah, you can see the problem.
02:42Now, the director of Gladiator and Blade Runner would no doubt craft something bold,
02:46or at the very least interesting, if he ever was trusted to do whatever he wanted to with
02:51the worlds of Jedi, Stormtroopers, and the Force. Whether Disney and Lucasfilm would be willing to
02:56let Scott have more freedom today or not isn't fully clear at present. Though it is worth noting
03:01that after the success of the first season, Tony Gilroy recently explained to Empire how he didn't
03:06receive any creative notes for the second season of Andor from the people above. Yeah,
03:11they were just letting him do his thing. If they insisted on interfering and having complete control
03:16over whatever idea he had in mind though, you can bet it would still be a firm no from this legend.
03:22Number 8, David Cronenberg.
03:24While the previous two directors mentioned on this list simply said no to the idea of directing a Star
03:30Wars movie, this next person told Lucasfilm directly that he was not interested. Known today
03:35for his stellar work in the body horror genre, before making the likes of The Fly and Videodrome,
03:41David Cronenberg was actually given the chance to direct the third original trilogy film,
03:46Episode 6, Return of the Jedi. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about his decision to turn
03:51down that movie, he recalled speaking to Lucasfilm on the phone about what was at that point called
03:56Revenge of the Jedi. His response when asked if he'd be up for meeting everyone and sitting in
04:01the director's chair? Well, I'm not used to doing other people's material. Oh boy. Those words were
04:07met with a silence on the other end of the line before he was eventually hung up on, and that was
04:11that. Cronenberg didn't really want to work on something where so many creative elements are already
04:16fixed, feeling that directing one of these movies was similar to directing an episode on a TV show.
04:22He said it'd all be quite frustrating, so he just didn't do it.
04:257. David Lynch
04:27Another director who was asked whether he fancied bringing the original trilogy to an end, the late,
04:32great David Lynch had a similar response to David Cronenberg. Around that time, the masterful
04:38director had brought the likes of Eraserhead and The Elephant Man to the screen, and George Lucas
04:43clearly saw those critical hits, and felt that Lynch had what it took to be trusted with his galaxy
04:49far, far away. However, the mind who would eventually give the world twin peek said no to the opportunity
04:55after meeting with Lucas. In the Lynch on Lynch book, it's mentioned that the director just didn't
05:00really like sci-fi all that much if it wasn't combined with other genres. That, combined with
05:05the fact that Star Wars was totally George's thing in his mind, resulted in him passing on the movie.
05:11He's also explained in the past about how the whole meeting gave him a headache, with Lynch clearly not
05:16being all that excited about working with Wookiees in George's world. Yeah, this was before they were
05:21changed to Ewoks, of course. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that meeting. Lynch felt that Lucas
05:25should have just directed it, but he'd ultimately land on Richard Marquand to steer the ship in the
05:30end. Lynch would make his Dune movie instead of Episode VI Return of the Jedi, a project based on
05:36Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi tales. And those books actually heavily influenced Lucas when he began
05:42creating his own popular series. I just want to take a moment to salute the legend that was David
05:47Lynch. Throw all your love into that comment section down below, and while you're at it,
05:51let me know what your favorite Lynch project or just moment was and why. Rest in peace, good sir.
05:57Oh, and speaking of Dune... Number 6, Denis Villeneuve. Fast forward a few decades and it was Denis Villeneuve
06:03who was now sprinkling some spice into theatres with his take on Frank Herbert's Dune series. While David
06:09Lynch's movie may not have been the biggest critical or commercial success, Villeneuve's films have been
06:15celebrated as some of the greatest sci-fi pictures ever made. They've also earned a ton of money at
06:21the box office, which always helps. It won't come as too much of a surprise to hear that the mind
06:25behind these incredible movies was quite the fan of George Lucas' space stories too. However, after
06:31absolutely adoring the first two Star Wars films, Villeneuve's love of the series was derailed.
06:38When episode 6, Return of the Jedi made its way onto the big screen, a disappointed and angry 15-year-old
06:45Denis felt that the movie was just a comedy for kids. He'd further explain on the town podcast that
06:51he thought Star Wars became crystallized in its own mythology. Very dogmatic. It became like a recipe
06:57and there was no more surprises. Those were his words. According to Villeneuve, the code feels very
07:02codified. So despite once being a gigantic fan of all things galaxy far, far away, this world-class
07:10filmmaker is now not dreaming to make a Star Wars, honestly. Again, they were his words.
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07:225. Irving Kirshner
07:24The late, great Irving Kirshner obviously did find himself guiding a Star Wars movie into the world,
07:30famously directing Episode 5, The Empire Strikes Back, a movie many consider to be the greatest
07:35in the franchise's history. But did you know that he actually rejected the chance to do it again?
07:40Back when he was in the middle of shooting that aforementioned second original trilogy movie,
07:45Kirshner was asked if he was interested in returning for the movie that would become Episode 6,
07:50Return of the Jedi. At that moment in time though, the eventual Never Say Never Again and Robocop 2
07:56director felt that doing so meant he was risking being classified. Kirshner wanted to direct other
08:02things and making a Star Wars movie wasn't exactly the easiest job in the world, so he turned it down.
08:08But he would reveal in Star Wars Insider number 49 that he ultimately regretted saying no.
08:14Kirshner thought he could have done something wonderful with the final film of the trilogy if he'd said yes,
08:20But at the time he was asked, he just didn't feel it was the right move,
08:23so his name joined the rest of the stacked list of filmmakers who decided against directing that
08:29sixth episode. 4. Brad Bird
08:32After directing the acclaimed animated adventures that were The Iron Giant, The Incredibles,
08:38and Ratatouille, Brad Bird turned his attention to live-action filmmaking with Mission Impossible Rogue
08:44Nation. And when that turned out to be a huge success too, it was not long before the Galaxy
08:49Far Far Away came calling. Like so many directors doing their thing in the industry, Bird was quite
08:55the fan of Star Wars. Rather than jumping at the chance to be the guy to direct the first Star Wars
09:00movie in a decade, Episode 7 though, Bird's other commitments at the time meant he simply couldn't
09:06say yes to Disney and Lucasfilm. He was already well into production on Tomorrowland, another Disney
09:11picture. And though he initially thought there could be a way to go right from that movie into Episode 7,
09:17he soon realised that would mean he couldn't give Tomorrowland the attention he felt it deserved.
09:23So Bird opted to stick with the picture and dream he'd already started to make happen,
09:27a move which set the stage for J.J. Abrams to become the director of what became The Force Awakens.
09:33Sadly, Tomorrowland didn't do anywhere near as well as Bird would have hoped,
09:36but he at least bounced back with 2018's $1.2 billion hit Incredibles 2,
09:42and is currently developing the third film in the series. In other words, The Force is still strong
09:46with this one.
09:47Number 3, Ron Howard
09:48Just like Irving Kirshner, Ron Howard would actually add a Star Wars movie to his CV during
09:54his career, but there was also a point there when he didn't want to get involved with The Galaxy Far Far
09:59Away. Back before George Lucas decided to direct all three of his prequels, he actually had a
10:04conversation with the Willow and Apollo 13 director about him helming Episode 1, The Phantom Menace.
10:10Said casual chat went down in a car park, according to Howard, who clarified that he didn't read a
10:16script or really think about whether it was something he wanted to do. After being asked,
10:20he just immediately felt like it was something that Lucas himself should direct.
10:24Howard would also reveal on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that nobody wanted to follow that act,
10:30I don't think, at that point. That was an honour, but it would have been just too daunting.
10:34As the years rolled by and different creators stepped in to do their own thing within the Star
10:40Wars universe, though, Howard became less intimidated by the whole idea, and was happy
10:44to step in to replace Phil Lord and Christopher Miller after they left Solo, A Star Wars Story.
10:49Howard wasn't the only person that Lucas approached about being his Phantom director, though.
10:542. Steven Spielberg
10:55In that aforementioned Happy Sad Confused conversation, Ron Howard also noted that both
11:00Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg were asked to direct the first prequel movie.
11:05Similarly to him, though, these top-class filmmakers thought that the person asking them was the
11:10best man for the job. However, the latter director did actually seem to be up for making a Star Wars
11:15movie at one point. Spielberg would claim back in 2002 that he did want to make a Star Wars movie
11:21about 15 years earlier, but Lucas wouldn't let him. Rather than being upset, Spielberg admitted that
11:26he understood why. Star Wars is George's baby, in his words. Though it was said that Lucas did actually
11:33want Spielberg to direct Episode 6, Return of the Jedi, but wasn't able to get his man after leaving
11:38the Director's Guild of America over where he placed the Director's credit in Episode 5,
11:43The Empire Strikes Back. With Spielberg still being a member of that guild, he wasn't able to make the
11:47picture. A decade after his 2002 comments, though, it seemed that Spielberg was no longer interested
11:53in getting his hands on his Best Friends franchise. When asked by Access Hollywood in 2012 whether he
11:58wanted to direct Episode 7 after Lucas had stepped away from the series following Disney's purchase
12:04of Lucasfilm, the Oscar-winning director said, No, no, it's not my genre. It's my best friend
12:09George's genre. It looks like the closest things fans will ever get to a Spielberg trip to the galaxy
12:14far, far away, then, is a few Star Wars Easter eggs in the likes of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
12:19and Ready Player One.
12:201. Guillermo del Toro
12:22The mighty Guillermo del Toro has come so very close to directing a Star Wars project
12:28on a number of occasions. Back in 2023, it was revealed by David S. Goya on the Happy Sad
12:33Confused podcast that he wrote an unproduced Star Wars movie that Guillermo del Toro was
12:38going to direct. The latter would later confirm this to be true, adding that it was about six
12:43years earlier that the project was being looked at, and posting, can't say much, maybe two
12:48letters, J, and BB, is that three letters, on X. There was apparently a lot of behind-the-scenes
12:53stuff going on at Lucasfilm at the time, according to Goya, but Goya felt it was a cool script,
12:59albeit one we'll probably never get to see. As you've likely already guessed, that project
13:03was one focusing on Jabba the Hutt, with del Toro later confirming this to Collider's
13:08Steven Weintrauber. Before that unproduced film fell through, though, del Toro had already
13:12turned down the chance to direct his own Star Wars movie, becoming yet another person who said
13:17no to Episode 7. Similarly to Brad Bird, del Toro's schedule was too full to get in the
13:23director's chair for that massive movie. The Shape of Water creator told IndieWire that his
13:28agent received a phone call about him possibly directing that film, but he felt he was already
13:33busy enough. The Oscar winner clearly has an interest in bringing his unique filmmaking style
13:39to the galaxy far, far away, but as of this moment, Lucasfilm, Disney, and del Toro haven't
13:45been able to get a project in front of cameras yet. I'm keeping those fingers crossed.
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