Brad Bird Talks About Directing a Star Wars Film
By Elaine Tveit
There may yet be hope for acclaimed filmmaker Brad Bird directing a Star Wars film.
In an interview with Collider, Bird talked about his work on The Incredibles sequel, which is his next project following the live-action film Tomorrowland. In the article, Collider mentioned how Kathleen Kennedy approached Bird about directing Episode VII, but due to his commitment to Tomorrowland, Bird turned down the offer.
Steve from Collider, who interviewed Bird, then asked him if he would consider directing the Star Wars Anthology film that Josh Trank was working on before his departure from the project. Here is Bird’s response:
"“Well Kathy and I have discussed the possibility of—I mean she’s basically saying this is a very large sandbox and other people can play in it. I was particularly attracted to the idea of picking up and—J.J. got very excited about the notion of shaping the next trilogy, and that idea was interesting to me too. But I kind of—I’m writing a sequel to The Incredibles and I can’t think too much farther beyond that. I have other things I want to do as well.”"
Anyone familiar with directors and actors talking about Star Wars to interviewers will know that that’s not really a straight answer. And as if to throw us off the trail a little bit, Bird also said:
"“Yeah in fact just avoid all this Star Wars stuff. Everybody’s feeding too much on that anyway.”"
Brad Bird directed Disney Pixar’s Ratatoullie in addition to The Incredibles (they are among Pixar’s best films, in my opinion). He also directed Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which according to Adam Chitwood from Collider, “was not only an impeccably crafted and wonderfully entertaining blockbuster, but also the highest grossing film in the Mission: Impossible franchise to date.”
Bird is clearly a great director and storyteller, and it would be amazing to see what he could do in the Star Wars universe. If not for the Star Wars Anthology film, maybe we’ll see him on board as director for Episode IX.