Denis Villeneuve Explains Why He Has no Desire to Do a ‘Star Wars’ Movie

Although he is currently being praised for his work on the Dune franchise, Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is actually one of the biggest and most important names in the industry, especially when it comes to sci-fi movies, which seem to be his specialty. Villeneuve has proven himself to be a strong author with his own voice and an author who does not compromise.

Due to his iconic status in the genre, many fans would love to see him directing a Star Wars movie, and seeing his work on Dune, we really think that he would do an amazing job there. However, as things stand, it seems that Villeneuve is not interested in making a Star Wars movie.

Speaking to Matthew Belloni on The Town podcast, Villeneuve revealed his connection with the Star Wars franchise, as well as his bitter disappointment that resulted in him not wanting to direct a Star Wars movie. What happened? Well, keep reading to find out!

We know that when the original Star Wars movie appeared, the franchise had a slow start, but despite the many obstacles, it soon became a proper classic, and Lucas was launched into stardom very quickly.

Villeneuve revealed that he was a big fan of the series as a boy and that he especially loved The Empire Strikes Back, which is considered by most to be the best work in the whole franchise.

But when you’re such a big fan, you’d obviously want to work on your own Star Wars project, right? And seeing how big a name Villeneuve is, he’d surely get one such project, right… so, why hasn’t he?

Well, it seems that Villeneuve himself doesn’t want to work on Star Wars and the reason for that is a grudge from way back in 1983, as he revealed in the podcast:

I was the target audience, I was ten years old, it went to my brain like a silver bullet, I became obsessed with Star Wars. I mean, The Empire Strikes Back is the movie that I anticipated the most in my life . I saw the movie a billion times on screen, I was traumatized by The Empire Strikes Back.

I adore Star Wars, the problem is that it all derailed in 1983 with Return of the Jedi … I was 15 years old, my best friend and I wanted to take a cab, go to LA and talk to George Lucas. We were so angry. Still today, the Ewoks… it turned out to be a comedy for kids …

I thought that Star Wars became crystallized in its own mythology , very dogmatic, it seemed like a recipe, no more surprises. So I’m not dreaming to do a Star Wars, the code is very codified.

Source: The Town podcast

This shouldn’t come as such a big surprise, as many people were not satisfied with the introduction of the Ewoks when they debuted. They were seen as an example of lowering the franchise’s quality, and much like Jar-Jar Binks in the Prequel Trilogy, they were disliked.

In Villeneuve’s case, it all went so far that he doesn’t even want to work on the franchise anymore, which is a shame considering how he could probably bring a breath of fresh air to a franchise that has been struggling in recent years.

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