Denis Villeneuve was a huge Star Wars fan in his childhood. But now, as an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, he has no interest in being involved with the galactic space opera.
It is all because of Ewoks.
During a recent appearance on The Town podcast, the Dune director shared that he was "obsessed" with Star Wars as a kid. But the fascination wore off with the release of Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
"I was the target audience. I was 10 years old. It went to my brain like a silver bullet. I became obsessed with Star Wars," Villeneuve reminisced. "I mean, The Empire Strikes Back is the movie that I anticipated the most in my life. I saw the movie a billion times onscreen. 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."
It turns out that the inclusion of Ewoks in the final movie of the original trilogy did not sit well with the director. At 15, he was so upset with the move that he and his best friend wanted to "take a cab and go to L.A." to have it out with George Lucas personally, he shared.
"We were so angry! Still today, the Ewoks. It turned out to be a comedy for kids."
A section of Star Wars fans view Return of the Jedi as falling short compared to the heights of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Among the many complaints against the film, one that keeps coming up is the idea of using Ewoks to defeat the Empire. Many fans believed the addition of the cutesy, furry creatures took away from the seriousness of the situation and led to a somewhat unrealistic battle sequence. The fact that George Lucas had originally planned for Wookiees to be the inhabitants of Endor's forest moon made fans feel robbed of a grittier storyline.
As far as directing a Star Wars movie goes, Villeneuve is skeptical about taking on something that he believes allows very little elbow room for creative ingenuity.
"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 because it feels like code is very codified.”
Even if he does work with Lucasfilm in the future, he may not be on board for a Disney+ production as he is not a big fan of streaming services. He believes the big screen is part of the movie-watching experience, and it will one day return to its former glory.
"We’re not meant to be alone, we’re meant to share together... I believe the theater experience will prevail."
As for Dune 3, Villeneuve said he could be doing it and refused to elaborate. In September, he said on Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men podcast that the trilogy film was in the writing process and it would be the last Dune movie he makes.