Star Wars VII is happening. Yes, maybe I am a bit late to the party but it’s taken me until now to process just how exciting this really is.
Not only will we be re-visiting a Galaxy, far, far away as soon as 2015, we’ll be staying there for quite some time. Disney have promised that this is only the start with 5 more sequels already planned. After the initial frenzy, rumours coming out of Hollywood seem to keep building momentum, adding to fevered fan anticipation.
Episodes VII and onwards will be a direct continuation of ‘The Return of the Jedi’?
The original trio will be returning?
Jar-Jar Binks is getting a stand alone trilogy?
Ok, so I might be joking about Jar-Jar Binks!
But for all the hype surrounding Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, a slightly more important decision still needs to be made. Who’s going to direct what is possibly the biggest movie franchise of all time?
Here are 7 of the best directors who could not only bring Star Wars back to the glory days of the original trilogy, but could bring their own unique style while dealing with huge pressure from rabid fans all over the World.
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13 Comments
For me, it’s Andrew Adamson. He’s all of the best combined into one.
He’s the Brad Bird from Dreamworks (Shrek) and he even started off the Narnia trilogy with the two strongest entries that were hits. And his movie with James Cameron that comes out soon looks gorgeous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgiLU9lNnU8
Great suggestion but I reckon Disney will want to get a big name director for marketing alone. Star Wars 7 will probably be one of the most expensive movies ever, you think Disney would take even a small gamble?
Hey Barry, good list but I have to disagree. Well, with the exception of Jackson.
My personal opinion is that it’d be a mistake to go with an unlimited budget. That’s what sank the prequels (among other things).
I believe Disney should go with a modest budget and a good filmmaker, like what happened with Empire Strikes Back. While it’s nearly impossible to find a filmmaker untouched by the franchise, they could go with a young director with something to prove. I have a list of 5 directors on my site. Please check it out!
Honestly I don’t understand why a realistic approach to starwas wouldn’t work. It is the only possible approach that could add something new.
I don’t either but I think Nolan would want to strip too many fantastical things. I love Nolan and The Prestige was one of my favourite movies in the last ten years (I got goosebumps at the end!)I would love to see him tackle it though but Nolan always clings to realism. Even in Inception, the ‘dream worlds’ weren’t crazy or fantastical. Imagine if somebody other than Nolan had directed it? They would have went to town with it. Take Burton for example. The two Batmans are completely different.
If it were Nolan, that wouldn’t automatically mean that Star Wars would be set in the “real world.” Anyone who says so is pigeon holing him as a one dimensional director…and he’s NOT.
The author of the article himself mentioned that Nolan’s capable of fantasy with the likes of Inception and Prestige. So…what exactly is the problem here? He’s too grounded for the job, but he’s not? Which is it?
Ya i agree. Tbh, Nolan is probably my favourite director. In hindsight, my first sentence was meant to go at the end of the piece. I didn’t mean it to read like a rhethorical question.
Anyway, I don’t think he is one dimensional at all but Disney wouldn’t take the chance. Disney will be aiming for ‘Avatar’ success, wanting something completely new and accessible. Would Nolan be able to create that?
Take TDK and Avengers. Both good films, yet because of the age ratings, Avengers was seen by kids and young teensand made a few hundred million more. Nolan is probably the most intelligent director around atm and he loves his films to have intricate details and mature plots and themes. The Prestige is one of my fave movies and that was excellent, but still anchored to reality in Nolans style.
Peter Jackson just seems the best choice for me but thats my opinion. I would love Nolan to have a go but don’t see it happening.
Nice blog too!
Edgar Wright?
Won’t he be busy with Ant-man?
Excellent list and i agree with you about Nolan. Would he be up creating complete fantasy? Jackson would be a safe bet. Keep up the articles mate
Welcome to WC Barry! Congrats on the list, but I must respectfully disagree with your choices. With the exception of Matthew Vaughn, they’re all obvious fan choices. In the interest of shameless self-promotion, I’d like to point out I wrote a similar article that was published the day after the news hit – http://whatculture.com/film/star-wars-episode-7-who-should-direct.php – that might offer some other, outside the box, choices. Let me know what you think.
Michael Ardnt is already confirmed to write (http://starwars.com/news/michael-arndt-to-write-screenplay-for-star-wars-episode-vii.html) so since this is already Disney they should just go with Brad Bird. He has proven he can deliver extremely high quality, family friendly action-adventure with fantasy settings (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) as well as more grounded ones (Mission Impossible 4).
I think Nolan would be alright. He grounds everything in reality, doesn’t mean he refuses to explore fantasy elements. An interview I read about the conception of the story for Man of Steel made it out to be realistic in the way people reacted to having this super-powered being on Earth. If he directed Star Wars, I think we’d get a decent dose of the Force but it could be more focused on the same elements Star Wars: 1313 is focusing on. We’d get fantastical elements in a grounded world with grounded characters. With that said, I wouldn’t choose Nolan, either, but I’d at least think it’d make for an interesting take.