Source: Access Hollywood | Posted By: Dan Geer
Now that Star Wars creator George Lucas has handed over Lucasfilm to Disney, and given the green light for Star Wars: Episodes VII-IX, the biggest question on everyone’s mind is who will step into the director’s chair, now that Lucas has stated he will not direct.
Countless websites have compiled their wishlists, and posted various rumors of who will now direct. Probably the biggest name to come up is Steven Spielberg, who has been a long time friend of Lucas, and of course directed the four Indiana Jones movies that Lucas developed. Kathleen Kennedy, now President of Lucasfilm, has produced quite a number of Spielberg-directed films as well. So it really does make him the obvious choice to take over Star Wars, given his relationship with both Kennedy and Lucas.
However, according to Access Hollywood, this will unfortunately not be the case. Read on for what Spielberg had to say!
Spielberg on whether he will direct the new Star Wars films (via Access Hollywood):
“No! No! “It’s not my genre. It’s my best friend George’s genre.”
Doesn’t take much more than that to shoot down any rumors of Spielberg directing. As a huge Star Wars fan myself, this is not the news I was hoping for, although I can’t say it is unexpected, since Lucas and Kennedy have both claimed that they are handing down Star Wars to the next generation of filmmakers, of which Spielberg wouldn’t be included.
It is strange, however, that sources such as Vulture reported as recently as yesterday that the treatment for the new Star Wars films would grace Spielberg’s desk. Perhaps this is simply Lucas doing a favor for his longtime buddy by letting him have a peek at the story just for kicks.
So, this once again leaves us with the burning question of who will direct. Spielberg’s out, so perhaps J.J. Abrams? He may be busy with Star Trek Into Darkness right now, but he’s got nothing lined up after that – at least nothing that has been made public. His take on Trek in 2009 seemed to be very much inspired by the original Star Wars film, and fans know that he loves the legendary space opera that Lucas created, and was definitely inspired by it as a filmmaker. If it were up to me, he’d be my first choice.
Stay tuned as more details emerge!
Update: Well, it looks like J.J. Abrams has taken himself out of the running as well, according to Hollywood Life. Boo!
