Denis Villeneuve Explains Why He Has No Desire To Make A Star Wars Movie

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Celebrated science-fiction filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, mastermind of the Dune movies, has revealed why he’d never write Star Wars; in his view, it’s all gone downhill since 1983. Denis Villeneuve is an accomplished French Canadian film director and writer, with so many classic movies to his resume – and that was before his latest Dune movies, some of the best sci-fi movies in decades. He’s particularly good at weaving complex lore into a compelling narrative – which naturally leads to many wondering how he’d fare with Star Wars.

Speaking to Matthew Belloni on The Town podcast, Villeneuve revealed he grew up adoring Star Wars – but that, in his view, the franchise took a wrong direction all the way back in 1983.

“”I was the target audience, I was ten 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 on screen, I was traumatized by The Empire Strikes Back.

I adore Star Wars, the problem is that
it all derailed in 1983 with Return of the Jedi
… I was 15 years old, my best friend and I wanted to take a cab, go to LA and talk to George Lucas. We were so angry. Still today, the Ewoks…
it turned out to be a comedy for kids
…

I thought that
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, the code is very codified.”

Denis Villeneuve Has Identified A Major Problem With Star Wars

He wasn’t the target audience anymore… but beyond that, he has a point

It’s quite easy for Star Wars fans to shift to a defensive position, but let’s be fair – Villeneuve has a point. He was the target audience for Star Wars back when the first movie came out in 1977, but he’d grown up by 1983’s Return of the Jedi. Some franchises grow up with their viewers – think the Harry Potter movies, which get darker as their stars (and audience) grow up. George Lucas didn’t want that to be true of Star Wars; he believed this was indeed for kids, which is why he created Ewoks and Jar Jar Binks.

This has always led to a degree of conflict in the fandom, as viewers get irritated when they realize they’re no longer the target audience. Ironically, it’s also the reason Star Wars endures; there’s always another generation to fall in love with the franchise. The Star Wars prequel trilogy‘s reputation has recovered a great deal as the prequel generation came of age, and the same will surely happen with the sequels.

The more concerning comment, though, is that – from an outsider’s viewpoint – Villeneuve feels the mythology has crystallized and become far too restrictive. Disney effectively rebooted the canon back in 2014, rendering the old Star Wars Expanded Universe non-canon in an attempt to correct this; a decade later, it feels as though history has repeated itself. Again, Villeneuve has a point, and this one is much more troubling.

Our Take On Denis Villeneuve’s Criticism Of Star Wars

It’s always fascinating to hear a Hollywood insider’s view

Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine being weakened by his Force Lightning in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Villeneuve is no stranger to franchises with deep lore, and it’s striking that he feels Star Wars is so much more restrictive than Dune. I think the key lies in a certain attitude; Star Wars fans will jump on any detail, turning even the most absurd change into a point of controversy. That was proven with The Acolyte, which adjusted the age of Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, breaking a (non-canon) detail established on a CD-ROM back in 1999 that Lucas himself ignored. In contrast, Villeneuve clearly feels the Dune fandom is more accepting – and he may well have a point.

The third film released and the sixth film chronologically in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi is a sci-fi epic adventure film that continues the adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, and friends as they battle against the Empire. After a narrow escape but crushing defeat at the hands of the empire, the rebel alliance learns that a new Death Star has been constructed above the moon of Endor. With the war reaching its conclusion, the heroes will team with the forest planet’s inhabitants and prepare themselves for one final showdown with Darth Vander and the Galactic Empire.