Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Guillermo Del Toro turns down STAR WARS EPISODE VII

So Guillermo Del Toro becomes the latest director to turn down STAR WARS EPISODE VII which shouldn't shock many as a lot of directors which the fan-boys want are the type of people who like to "Create" their own universes, and like to develop films which haven't been done before or take adaptions to the big screen on properties which haven't been touched like Del Toro, and Hellboy.

With that said I'm as big a Del Toro fan as any, and have always wanted to see what he could do in the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings universe. We almost got to see him Direct the Hobbit but Peter Jackson eventually got his hands on that property.

But Star Wars was the one which always seemed more up Del Toros alley. So it came with sad news to hear that he has turned down the next Star Wars movie due out in 2015. Del Toro admits that he was indeed offered the job, but had to turn it down due to having so much on his plate already. However, he does give the name of the man he would love to see take the reigns instead.
"We got one phone call to my agent saying, 'Is Guillermo interested?' And basically I have so much stuff already of my own, and I'm pursuing stuff that I'm generating already..It was very flattering. It was just a phone call, it didn't go past that, it was very nice to be asked, but believe it or not, I'm busy enough."
Del Toro said. "As a geek, I would have loved to see Brad Bird take it." for those who are not familiar with Bird's work he was the director on  Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol which most fans agree was an excellent film in a series which had lost some of it's luster with the third movie. He's also responsible for such great animations as "Ratatouille" and " The Iron Giant" Bird would seem to be a nice fit for the Star Wars universe.

Now I don't know if Disney wants one director for the trilogy or if they will have different directors for each film. I would rather see the later myself.While Bird would be a good fit, and a good suggestion he does seem to have some other projects in the way one with George Clooney called 1952 (pre-production) and another called 1906 (pre-production) I think the movie names being years might just be an odd coincidence. But either way he has two movies in pre production, and might not be available to get a major motion picture like Star Wars off the ground in the next two years. Which is what is needed.

The director I personally think would be the best choice is Matthew Vaughn who made the only X men movie I've enjoyed to date.  X-Men: Days of Future Past and sadly took himself out of the directors chair for the sequel in a very odd, and mysterious way. Almost as if to make sure he's available for another project which might come his way that is bigger then X MEN.
He's also the man who brought us Kick-Ass, and Layer Cake both great movies. He's done very good work in his few directing gigs he's impressed a lot of people. I think something as big as Star Wars is right up his alley.

It's becoming clear that the Star Wars franchise may be more challenging than Disney had originally thought.. At least finding a director!

First, J.J. Abrams passed on taking on the role of director, he announced he was sticking with Star Trek out of loyalty to that series. And not that they called him, but Quentin Tarantino wasn't too interested either. Honestly neither of those two would have been right anyway so it's no loss. But there is a good list of candidates still out there with Matthew Vaughn right on top of my list.

Another good candidate available other then Matthew Vaughn or Brad Bird would have to be Iron Man (2008) director Jon Favreau who also like Vaughn, and Bird would be an ideal choice. His history would seem to show us that he can take on epic films like Star Wars, and deliver a great movie.

So the force is strong with us right now... Only time will tell who will end up getting the gig but whoever it is better be ready for his or her life to change forever. Star Wars is bigger then any other movies. This is why I'm not shocked so many are passing on it.

2015 cannot get here quick enough... So who would you like to see in the directors chair?

- by Angel Espino