Speculation Now Guillermo Del Toro Confirms That He Turned Down Episode 7

From the Playlist http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/guillermo-del-toro-says-he-was-approached-for-star-wars-episode-7-would-have-loved-to-see-brad-bird-direct-the-sequel-20130107?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_content=Google Reader

It would appear that everyone is being asked. They've obviously hired someone already. I think we can all agree that it is probably a director who is already known, rather than an "indie" director.

 

I don't think "everyone is being asked." I think many who have said they wouldn't do it were never asked to begin with, IE Spielberg. The only two we know who have been approached are Abrams and Del Torro.

 

My guess is that its Jon Favreau. He makes the most sense for me.

Your not going to get a directing auteur at this point(nor do you want it). What the franchise needs is a competent journeyman. Someone who can plug in and work in a team. Favreau has that experience.

Trust me, this movie will be storyboarded, and scripted to the 10th degree. The director just needs to be able to frame a shot(with a visual style that has already been established). Most importantly, though, he has to be able to get performances out his actors. I think Favreau gets that and also brings a sense of humor to the table as well.

 

Interesting. I would have liked to have seen him direct it. However, with the amount of scrutiny and attention thew new films are getting/will get, I'm confident that I'll be happy with whomever directs it.

 

I don't think its even that. Most directors already have projects financed and ready to go. If they were to put a halt to that, in many cases, they would lose their backing from other studios. Those projects would be gone once they were finished with Star Wars.

Even Disney REALLY wanted Del Toro to do it though, all they needed to do would have been to finance his "Mouth of Madness" project through Touchstone.

I don't think he was ever seriously considered. I think they just wanted to touch base with him.

 

del Toro isn't that great anyways IMO

 

Seems like everyone is not interested to take this gig!

 

At the Mountains of Madness.

 

Can you blame them? With the amount of hate spewed from the mouths of fans disappointed by their own overhype, the director would need to be really prepared for death threats and all kinds of craziness.

To tell you the truth, if I had any directing ability and were asked, I'd likely end up rejecting it simply because of the fandom.

 

I'm glad he turned it down.Del Toro is a fan favorite but his movies are mediocre at best.His 2 Spanish films {Devils and Pans} were fantastic but everything else is beyond generic,even the trailer to Pacific Rim is very uninspiring.My hopes still with Matthew Vaughn.

 

yeah my bad got confused with my lovecraft films.

I'm guessing right now, its between Jon Favreau and Matthew Vaughn for the directing gig. I doubt its going to be someone completely out of left field.

I'm going to reiterate that Disney is going to go with safe choices. Both of those guys are safe.

 

Del Toro was busy, simple as.

Odds are though it's Matthew Vaughn, if I had to guess at this point.

 

I also liked Pan's Labrynth, and Pacific Rim does not appear to be a winner in my book either.

 

del Toro is an amazing talent and he would have been great for Star Wars, particularly for bringing his unique look to Lucas' world. But, it is what it is. I think we'll end up with someone great.

 

I realize this may not be popular opinion, but I am largely relieved he is not directing the film. The majority of his work has been highly overrated to me, and I feel he has very little respect for coming into a film where groundwork has already been established. When he was originally slated to direct the Hobbit, I was often in horror over hearing his ideas for the films, and his essential lack of respect and appreciation for the original book. I'm sure he is a great guy, and people enjoy his movies, but I never thought he was the right guy for this job, and always wanted him to keep a very safe distance from it. We need a director to turn the ship back in the right direction rather than ignore the ship all together by building a new one.

 

I like Favreau and I agree with all your opinions but i still think its Matt Vaughn. He's shown a great deftness foe the fantasy genre with Stardust and we SW fans would be lucky to have him.

 

Yeah Vaughn is a serious possibility as well. Either one would be fine for the job.

 

Wow. Really disappointed. I like Brad Bird for director tho. Or Andrew Stanton. Oh well...

 

Pretty much agree. Stardust was great.

 

Exactly. It was infinitely easier back when Kershner took on Empire, and even then he had reservations about the job. There's a huge amount of pressure on whoever gets the gig - even if they turn out to be the best choice in the end. I don't envy that one bit.

 

Yeah Bird was my #1 guy, and when he said he wasn't doing it; I kinda shrugged. Maybe they can bring him in for to do one of the installments afterward

But Favreau or Vaughn would be perfectly fine. Another name that could be seriously considered is Joe Johnston. However, I've never been a massive fan of how he directs action sequences.

He does get good performances out of his cast though.

 

Stanton or Johnston please. The fact De Toro was considered I find deeply troubling.

 

The thing is why would they ask Directors that were odds on to turn them down as Abrams & Del Toro as just busy with their other film projects....it starting to make Disney look bad .