At one point in time, Star Wars was a franchise that managed to attract some very great creatives from Rian Johnson to Taika Waititi, but as of now, it seems like the IP is on a creative stalemate. Some people are still asked as to whether they would love to get a chance to work on Star Wars, and as it turns out, Dune director Denis Villeneuve just isn’t interested. You would think that he would have something to complain about Disney Star Wars or the prequels, but Villeneuve said he had lost his interest in the franchise since Return of the Jedi came out in the 80s.
Talking to The Town podcast (via THR), Villeneuve how he fell in love with Star Wars until the third movie. He explains:
“I was the target audience. I was 10 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 onscreen. I was traumatized by The Empire Strikes Back. I adore Star Wars.”
By the time ROTJ came out though, it looked like Villeneuve had grown out of the more kid-friendly elements and thought that it was a huge downgrade on the film series. He continues:
“The problem is that it all derailed in 1983 with Return of the Jedi… It’s a long story. I was 15 years old, and my best friend and I wanted to take a cab and go to L.A. and talk to George Lucas — we were so angry! Still today, the Ewoks. It turned out to be a comedy for kids. … 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 because it feels like code is very codified.”
Admittedly, Star Wars being to ‘crystallized in its own mythology’ is a criticism that some have been throwing at the current state of the franchise—with Lucasfilm being afraid to try newer things with the IP and instead being too dependent on nostalgia with properties like Ahsoka.
If anything, fans are hopeful that Lucasfilm will find a balance with new creatives and nostalgia bait. We are getting that new Rey movie own the line, and Skeleton Crew and Andor Season 2 look pretty good.
It really is just a problem when social media algorithms reward influencers for being toxic, and until we can get rid of those guys, SW will always be riddled with the troublesome fandom that pretty much derailed everything since The Last Jedi.
The next Star Wars property, Skeleton Crew, comes out Dec. 2 on Disney+.
