Speculation Jon Favreau and David Fincher Pursuing 'Star Wars'

I think Vaughn is the perfect marriage of art house and commercial director. At the same time if Fincher gets the job I am absolutely thrilled. On paper Vaughn is the best and safest choice but Fincher is the best filmmaker. I like Favreau (he's a cool guy) but he just doesn't seem to be able to direct a climactic battle scene.

 

Lighten up

 

I'm not in control of my brightness levels at the moment. Lost the remote.

 

I would love it if Fincher directed. I have enjoyed all of his movies except for Alien 3, and I know that' not really his fault. It would be interesting to see what his style would be like.

 

Well, for one thing, the films would be dark. And I don't mean thematically, I mean literally dark. And you can pretty much say goodbye to natural-looking color timing, hello to desaturated yellow-brown tint on everything.

 

Well as long as he doesn't have Trent Reznor write the soundtrack. I liked the simplistic score to The Social Network, but it obviously does not belong in Star Wars.

 

If it's got a good beat, Yoda can dance to it.

 

BUT YODA'S DEAD

 

Even with Alien3 there is a lot of interesting shots. Visually it's superb, even if the overall film slacks a few things.

 

I saw the director's cut. It's an incredibly flawed movie with a very good soundtrack and some great nightmarish imagery. It's loads better than the crappy AVP movies of course.

 

I think the director's cut of Alien 3 is much better. Still, you have to also remember that Alien 3 was his very first feature film. It’s pretty impressive for a first timer.

 

I agree. Didn't he do music videos before movies?

 

Yes.

One of the things I don't get about the "he's too dark for SW" argument is that the material, the scripts were dark. SW will only be as dark as the script. IE David Fincher isn't going to insert gore, or psychological elements or foul language just for the sake of it.

Again, he's diverse. Benjamin Button and Social are not dark movies.

 

Yes...very much so. He was quite acclaimed at it.

 

Honestly, the only thing I don't like about Fincher is his use of colour. I really, really, really hate the palette of his films and find them hard to watch for that reason. If he ditches the green/teal/brown look for SW, I'd be happy to see him direct.

 

My problem is that I don't think these Fincher rumors have much merit or meat to them and yet when another director is chosen there will be this collective disappointment from people as a result.

When you're young and you first discover R-rated movies I think everybody goes through a violent phase where they start with horror and then work their way up to gangster movies and then learn about Reservoir Dogs, Fight Club, and other artsy violent movies. It's just a phase most people go through and so this idea of Fincher directing these has beem with us since AOTC. People wanted him to direct ROTS. He's most people's "cool director" before they learn about other cool directors. He's like the gateway for most people to really discovering film.

The problem with Fincher at his most stylish is that his movies don't age particularly well. They're like hyper stylized music videos where you can guess the year they were made in just by the look of the colors and wardrobe. I don't want that for Star Wars. Even Benjamin Button and The Social Network had huge amounts of color grading done to give them specific looks. Both really had a fall forrest-like color palette of browns, oranges and greens rather than anything natural looking. It looks cool and stands out because it views like a photoshopped magazine but it ages poorly and lacks warmth. Even his "warmest" movie, Benjamin Button, was cold, especially when compared to the movie most were reminded of... Forrest Gump. Fincher is a lot of things but magical and charming don't immediately jump to mind.

And as good as Hugo was... It still felt like Scorcese trying to emulate Spielberg but not quite reaching those fuzzy magical heights. It's a testament to his talent and film knowledge that he was able to push himself so well but not everybody can do that or should. There's nothing wrong with being very good at certain genres, moods or atmospheres. Most directors would kill to be known for being really good in any one particular area.

I like Fincher a lot. I thought reznor's electronic score for TSN was great too. Both artists suited the material perfectly because TSN was about revenge, betrayal, and the cold power of money and how it corrupts. Star Wars is different and I think needs somebody different. There's no doubt that Fincher is now the name everybody wants to talk about. My concern is whether they'll give any other, less overtly stylish director a fair chance if they're announced instead. This Fincher rumor is bad news for Vaughn, Johnson or Favreau. They'll all be viewed horribly now if given the reigns. Somebody at Lucas Film needs to clear this up by announcing a director soon and answering some press questions because all this speculation is just setting up the fanbase for disappointment and anger.

 

Has there even been a joke in a Fincher movie... Ever? Seriously. They're more serious than the Matrix movies when they get philosophical. I watch Stardust and I'm reminded of the Pricess Bride and Star Wars. I watch the end of Xmen first class with Charles pleading with Erik to "be the better man" and I'm reminded of Luke talking to Vader.

Fincher's direction is cool, serious, bleak, violent, clinical and chilling. He's perhaps the best in the industry at delivering that combo.

Vaughn's direction is cool, warm, sincere, whimsical, thrilling, humorous AND serious and bleak where necessary. He's not the best at any of these things but he's a rising star at delivering movies that have all of these things and he's getting better.

I don't think Vaughn could have done The Social Network, Fight Club, Zodiac, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, or 7even better than Fincher because those films needed his strengths but I also don't think Fincher could have or would have done Stardust, Kickass, or Xmen: First Class betrr than Vaugn and the latter films are closer to what Star Wars is in my mind.

 

Dead can dance!

It depends on what you mean. A formal, traditional joke complete with punchline? I can't recall. But there has definitely been comedy in Fincher films.

 

I think Vaughn already has the gig

 

I think so too! In fact I just got Stardust from the library. Next stop: Layer Cake.

 

I reckon Jon Favreau would do a fantastic job considering the movies that he's directed.

 

One thing you'll notice about Layer Cake is that Tom Hardy serves no purpose whatsoever and could have been totally removed from the film without significant effect.

 

I think they Are going to reboot the AVP movies. I just don't know when and how!

 

I'll take Fincher if he leaves the production and wants his directing credit removed. Alien 3 is my favorite of his.