While most of the current Star Wars talk is revolving around who will be announced as director for Episode VII , David Cronenberg has revealed an interesting nugget of info by disclosing why he turned down the chance to direct Return Of The Jedi .
“A long time ago I was approached for one second to do a Star Wars movie, which at that time was called Revenge Of The Jedi and then became Return Of The Jedi ,” says Cronenberg. “I was approached by Lucasfilm about that and it didn’t take them long to realize that maybe that wasn’t a good idea.”
Imagine that for a moment, if you will. A Cronenberg-directed Jedi ? We’d imagine the Ewoks might not have got quite so much of a look in on his watch. Still, it was never something that really interested the director.
“You’re really restricted by the format that’s been established,” he explains. “So for a really inventive or innovative director, that’s being put in a straitjacket. And the visual style has been established and the characters have been cast – I mean, you’re not involved in casting the leads, which is of course, for a director, a hugely important thing.”
Nevertheless, it makes for an interesting case of what might have been.
Star Wars: Episode VII is set to open in 2015.