Oh, you thought that whole Darth Vader returning thing was the last of the Star Wars: Episode VII stuff for today? Hardly, and the day has barely begun. So far we've heard from Steven Spielberg, Zack Snyder, and Quentin Tarantino on the prospect of directing the film, and now others who have emerged on a lot of wishlists have begun to weigh in with their thoughts.
The first is Guillermo Del Toro, who is rumored for pretty much everything under the sun. While he's already talking up a possible Justice League Dark film, he sounds like he'd be a little interested if Disney were to give his phone a ring....
Del Toro: "You know, I saw it on the Internet, but I haven’t approached them, they haven’t formally
approached me. I mean, I heard some rumblings, but to me it’s really — I
have so many projects to discuss or think about. [For] something that
is not a possibility yet, I don’t do that. You know, because I have so
many things that I need to catch up with. If this becomes ever a
reality, and there’s an approach to do it, I would then think about it,
but — it’s like thinking if I want to date a supermodel. I don’t think
about these things."He's got so much on his plate right now that it could never happen unless he dropped everything else. So you can pretty much count him out. Next up is Colin Trevorrow, the Safety Not Guaranteed director who I think surprised many by his inclusion on the shortlist. To me he's the perfect choice, and judging by his comments he sounds like someone who has given it a lot of thought. Actually, he kind of sounds like he's knows more than he's letting on....
Trevorrow: "It is not something that I can comment too much on.
But I can definitely say, I am as much of a fan of 'Star Wars' as
everyone else for whom 'Star Wars' was the most important thing in their
life, when they were a kid. I'm deeply aware of how profoundly
important it is, to billions of people. It really is a mythology and
possibly even a belief system for a lot of people. I certainly can't comment on what my involvement may ever be, I can definitely say that I would absolutely love to direct a 'Star Wars' film at some point in my life. That would be incredible, I'm not daunted by it.
Even if I understand that any thinking director who cares about it as I
do, as much as a lot of directors do, would be afraid of screwing it
up. But I also think that it's a risk that a lot of directors would be
willing to take, because they care about it so much."He then went on to hypothesize about Disney's future plans for the franchise, and his thoughts match what I think most of us are expecting, that the Mouse House won't be content with just one new trilogy....
Trevorrow: "You know, they're gonna be making 'Star Wars' films for the rest of our lives. Disney saw what Marvel has done, to be able to take an universe that seemed unlimited and really prove that it's unlimited… I think there is a difference between what we're gonna see in the next three movies, that have an enormous responsibility and are iconic and are completing a story that has existed in the pop culture fabric for decades… But after that, they are gonna be some really cool and exciting 'Star Wars' universe movies. You're gonna see really bold, exciting directors, they'll do a crazy, underworld 'Star Wars' movie and all kinds of stuff. And I'm excited to watch all those movies."
J.J. Abrams, revealed to be one of the handful of directors who received Arndt's story treatment, realizes that directing Star Wars comes at a heavy price. Besides, he's already busy with Star Trek Into Darkness, and crossing the Star Wars/Star Trek streams would lead to untold chaos....
Abrams: “Look, Star Wars is one of my favorite movies of all time,” J.J. told Hollywood Life. He added, “I frankly feel that – I almost feel that, in a weird way, the opportunity for whomever it is to direct that movie, it comes with the burden of being that kind of iconic movie and series. I was never a big ‘Star Trek’ fan growing up, so for me, working on ‘Star Trek’ didn’t have any of that, you know, almost fatal sacrilege, and so, I am looking forward more then anyone to the next iterations of ‘Star Wars,’ but I believe I will be going as a paying moviegoer!”
And lastly, there's Jon Favreau, who I think would probably be the most open to the job. He doesn't exactly take his name out of contention, not that he's in as far as we know, but he does seem very interested. Plus he's already got a ton of franchise experience as the director of two Iron Man flicks.
Favreau: “I am just giddy, first and foremost as a fan, to see what happens with [“Star Wars VII”]. I think there [are] a lot of question marks of how they are going to do it, and who they are going to do it with, and what the story is going to be about; but to say that I am not excited about it is definitely an understatement. We’ll see.”
So, this leaves us pretty much where we were at the beginning. Matthew Vaughn and Colin Trevorrow are definitely still in. Of the three who received Arndt's treatment, Spielberg and Abrams have dropped out, leaving only Brad Bird. 2015 is a long way off, so expect plenty more denials, maybe's, and rumors before then. [Filmmixern/Hollywoodlife/Moviezine]
