CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 08: (L-R) Jury members Ava Duvernay and Denis Villeneuve attend the Jury press conference during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at on May 8, 2018 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)
2. Denis Villeneuve
Villeneuve grabbed his success recently with his films Sicario, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. Villeneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for his direction of the aforementioned Arrival. His filmography is not extensive but the quality is certainly not lacking.
In fact, his highest rated film, Arrival, has a score of 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. To further drive home the point, his lowest rated film, Enemies, is still rated 73 percent.
Both Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 fall into the sci-fi genre. Both films are steeped in realism, which has helped the most recent Star Wars films have more success than the prequels that featured mass amounts of shiny new CGI.
With Blade Runner 2049, Villeneuve was able to fulfill the expectations of a sequel that fans waited 25 years to see. Those are the same type of expectations that face a Star Wars director.
Villeneuve’s films have found commercial success for the most part. His first two feature films, Maelstrom and Polytechnique, failed to turn a profit. All his films since then have made a healthy amount at the box office.
Adding Villeneuve to any Star Wars production would be a coup for the folks at Lucasfilm.