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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
02:14tale 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 the
02:51worlds of Jedi, Stormtroopers, and the Force. Whether Disney and Lucasfilm would be willing
02:56to let 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
03:21legend.
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
04:11was
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.
04:25Number 7, David Lynch
04:27Another director who was asked whether he fancied bringing the original trilogy to an end,
04:32the late, great David Lynch had a similar response to David Cronenberg. Around that time,
04:38the masterful director had brought the likes of Eraserhead and The Elephant Man to the screen,
04:42and George Lucas clearly saw those critical hits, and felt that Lynch had what it took to be trusted
04:48with his galaxy far, far away. However, the mind who would eventually give the world Twin Peaks said
04:54no to the opportunity after meeting with Lucas. In the Lynch on Lynch book, it's mentioned that
04:59the director just didn't really like sci-fi all that much if it wasn't combined with other genres.
05:04That, combined with the fact that Star Wars was totally George's thing in his mind,
05:09resulted in him passing on the movie. He's also explained in the past about how the whole meeting
05:14gave him a headache, with Lynch clearly not being all that excited about working with Wookiees in George's
05:19World. Yeah, this was before they were changed to Ewoks, of course. Oh, to be a fly on the wall
05:24in
05:24that meeting. Lynch felt that Lucas should have just directed it, but he'd ultimately land on
05:28Richard Marquand to steer the ship in the end. Lynch would make his Dune movie instead of Episode
05:336 Return of the Jedi, a project based on Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi tales. And those books
05:40actually heavily influenced Lucas when he began creating his own popular series.
05:44I just want to take a moment to salute the legend that was David Lynch. Throw all your
05:48love into that comment section down below, and while you're at it, let me know what your
05:52favourite Lynch project or just moment was and why. Rest in peace, good sir. Oh, and speaking of Dune...
05:58Number 6, Denis Villeneuve. Fast forward a few decades and it was Denis Villeneuve who was now
06:03sprinkling some spice into theatres with his take on Frank Herbert's Dune series. While David Lynch's
06:10movie may not have been the biggest critical or commercial success, Villeneuve's films have
06:15been celebrated as some of the greatest sci-fi pictures ever made. They've also earned a ton
06:20of money at the box office, which always helps. It won't come as too much of a surprise to hear
06:24that the mind behind these incredible movies was quite the fan of George Lucas' space stories too.
06:31However, after absolutely adoring the first two Star Wars films, Villeneuve's love of the series
06:37was derailed. When episode 6, Return of the Jedi made its way onto the big screen,
06:43a disappointed and angry 15-year-old Denis felt that the movie was just a comedy for kids.
06:49He'd further explain on the Town podcast that he thought Star Wars became crystallised in its own
06:54mythology. Very dogmatic. It became like a recipe and there was no more surprises. Those were his words.
07:00According to Villeneuve, the code feels very codified. So despite once being a gigantic fan of
07:06all things galaxy far, far away, this world-class filmmaker is now not dreaming to make a Star
07:12Wars honestly. Again, they were his words. If you're enjoying this WhatCultureStarWars video,
07:17then tap that subscribe button and you will get even more of these wonderful videos in your life.
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 in
07:36the 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
07:49Episode 6, Return of the Jedi. At that moment in time though, the eventual Never Say Never Again
07:55and Robocop 2 director felt that doing so meant he was risking being classified.
08:01Kirshner wanted to direct other things and making a Star Wars movie wasn't exactly the easiest job in
08:06the world, so he turned it down. But he would reveal in Star Wars Insider No. 49 that he
08:12ultimately regretted saying no. Kirshner thought he could have done something wonderful with the
08:17final film of the trilogy if he'd said yes. But at the time he was asked, he just didn't feel
08:22it
08:22was the right move. So his name joined the rest of the stacked list of filmmakers who decided against
08:28directing that sixth episode.
08:304. 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
08:43Rogue Nation. And when that turned out to be a huge success too, it was not long before the
08:49galaxy far, far away came calling. Like so many directors doing their thing in the industry,
08:54Bird was quite the fan of Star Wars. Rather than jumping at the chance to be the guy to direct
08:59the
08:59first Star Wars movie in a decade, Episode 7 though, Bird's other commitments at the time meant he
09:05simply couldn't say yes to Disney and Lucasfilm. He was already well into production on Tomorrowland,
09:11another Disney picture. And though he initially thought there could be a way to go right from
09:15that movie into Episode 7, he soon realised that would mean he couldn't give Tomorrowland the
09:20attention he felt it deserved. So Bird opted to stick with the picture and dream he'd already
09:26started to make happen, a move which set the stage for J.J. Abrams to become the director of what
09:31became The Force Awakens. Sadly, Tomorrowland didn't do anywhere near as well as Bird would have
09:36hoped, but he at least bounced back with 2018's $1.2 billion hit Incredibles 2, and is currently
09:42developing the third film in the series. In other words, The Force is still strong with this one.
09:473. Ron Howard
09:48Just like Irving Kirshner, Ron Howard would actually add a Star Wars movie to his CV during his career,
09:54but there was also a point there when he didn't want to get involved with the galaxy far, far away.
09:59Back before George Lucas decided to direct all three of his prequels, he actually had a conversation
10:05with 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 script
10:16or really think about whether it was something he wanted to do. After being asked, he just immediately
10:21felt like it was something that Lucas himself should direct. Howard would also reveal on the
10:26Happy Sad Confused podcast that nobody wanted to follow that act, I don't think, at that point.
10:31That was an honour, but it would have been just too daunting. As the years rolled by,
10:36and different creators stepped in to do their own thing within the Star Wars universe, though,
10:41Howard became less intimidated by the whole idea, and was happy to step in to replace Phil Lord
10:46and Christopher Miller after they left Solo A Star Wars Story. Howard wasn't the only person that
10:50Lucas 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
11:10was the best man for the job. However, the latter director did actually seem to be up for making
11:14a Star Wars movie at one point. Spielberg would claim back in 2002 that he did want to make a
11:20Star Wars movie about 15 years earlier, but Lucas wouldn't let him. Rather than being upset,
11:25Spielberg admitted that he understood why. Star Wars is George's baby, in his words.
11:31Though it was said that Lucas did actually want Spielberg to direct Episode 6 Return of the Jedi,
11:36but wasn't able to get his man after leaving the Director's Guild of America over where he placed
11:41the Director's credit in Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back. With Spielberg still being a member
11:45of that guild, he wasn't able to make the picture. A decade after his 2002 comments, though,
11:51it seemed that Spielberg was no longer interested in getting his hands on his Best Friend's franchise.
11:55When asked by Access Hollywood in 2012 whether he wanted to direct Episode 7 after Lucas had
12:01stepped away from the series following Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm, the Oscar-winning director
12:06said, No, no, it's not my genre. It's my best friend George's genre. It looks like the closest
12:11things fans will ever get to a Spielberg trip to the galaxy far, far away, then, is a few Star
12:16Wars
12:16Easter eggs in the likes of E.T. the Extraterrestrial and 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 on a number of
12:29occasions. Back in 2023, it was revealed by David S. Goya on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he
12:35wrote an unproduced Star Wars movie that Guillermo del Toro was going to direct. The latter would
12:40later confirm this to be true, adding that it was about six years earlier that the project was being
12:45looked at, and posting, can't say much, maybe two letters, J, and BB, is that three letters, on X.
12:51There was apparently a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff going on at Lucasfilm at the time, according
12:56to Goya, but Goya felt it was a cool script, albeit one we'll probably never get to see. As you've
13:01likely already guessed, that project was one focusing on Jabba the Hutt, with del Toro later
13:06confirming this to Collider's Steven Weintraub. Before that unproduced film fell through,
13:11though, del Toro had already turned down the chance to direct his own Star Wars movie, becoming
13:16yet another person who said no to Episode 7. Similarly to Brad Bird, del Toro's schedule
13:21was too full to get in the director's chair for that massive movie. The Shape of Water creator
13:27told IndieWire that his agent received a phone call about him possibly directing that film,
13:32but he felt he was already busy enough. The Oscar winner clearly has an interest in bringing his
13:37unique filmmaking style to the galaxy far, far away, but as of this moment, Lucasfilm,
13:43Disney, and del Toro haven't been able to get a project in front of cameras. Yet.
13:47I'm keeping those fingers crossed.
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