Ridley Scott is convinced he won’t ever be asked to direct a Star Wars movie because studio executives know he wouldn’t let them have creative control.
The Gladiator filmmaker directed the first films in two franchises, Alien and Blade Runner, and while others have taken over the reins for further installments, he insists he would never get the opportunity to do the same for the Star Wars movies because executives at Disney and Lucasfilm want someone they can control, unlike him.
When asked if Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has ever offered him a Star Wars movie, Scott told Vulture, “No, no. I’m too dangerous for that,” before explaining, “Because I know what I’m doing… I think they like to be in control, and I like to be in control myself.”
“When you get a guy who’s done a low-budget movie and you suddenly give him $180 million, it makes no sense whatsoever. It’s f**kin’ stupid. You know what the reshoots cost?” he continued. “Millions! Millions. You can get me for my fee, which is heavy, but I’ll be under budget and on time. This is where experience does matter, it’s as simple as that!”
Scott was referring to Disney’s history of hiring indie directors for big-budget blockbusters, such as James Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy, Scott Derrickson for Doctor Strange and Jon Watts for Spider-Man: Homecoming, even though they only had a few low-budget projects under their belt.
In the new Star Wars franchise, Disney and Lucasfilm hired J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson to direct The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi respectively, and Gareth Edwards for spin-off Rogue One – A Star Wars Story. Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow was hired for Episode IX, but later left due to creative differences and was replaced by Abrams.
The same happened to 21 Jump Street directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who were hired for Solo, the spin-off Han Solo movie, but they again departed while months deep into filming and were replaced by Ron Howard.
“Our approach to making the movie was different than theirs. That was a really big gap to bridge, and it proved to be too big,” Lord later explained at the Vulture Festival.
