Although the Star Wars saga is the brainchild of George Lucas, he’s not the only filmmaker who’s given his take on the beloved galaxy far, far away. Lucas directed the 1977 original, but he outsourced the director’s chairs on both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He also considered hiring other directors to helm the prequels before deciding to shoot them all himself.
And of course, in the Disney era, directors have come and gone from Star Wars projects like clockwork, butting heads with Kathleen Kennedy. So, here are 10 famous filmmakers who almost directed Star Wars movies.
Steven Spielberg (Return Of The Jedi)
George Lucas’ first choice to direct Return of the Jedi was his close friend Steven Spielberg, and Spielberg was even eager to take the job. However, Lucas had recently dropped out of the Director’s Guild of America, so he was making Jedi as a non-union effort.
The guild wouldn’t allow any of its members to direct a non-union film, forcing Spielberg to reluctantly duck out of helming the Ewok-infested threequel.
Matthew Vaughn (The Force Awakens)
When The Force Awakens was in development, Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn was offered the project. However, he didn’t agree with the film’s degree of violence or some of the casting, so he turned it down. It’s probably for the best that Vaughn didn’t take the job, as it allowed him to launch the Kingsman franchise.
Before J.J. Abrams was chosen, the producers considered Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, Joss Whedon, Ben Affleck, Guillermo del Toro, and Peter Jackson, as well as Rian Johnson, who went on to controversially helm The Last Jedi.
Josh Trank (Boba Fett Spin-Off)
In the earliest stages of the Disney era of Star Wars, Lucasfilm began developing a Boba Fett spin-off for the “Anthology” series that would be scripted by Simon Kinberg (whose past works give us no reason to have faith in his take on Fett) and directed by Josh Trank.
Trank eventually departed from the project due to creative differences. He recently revealed that he quit because he knew he’d be fired if he didn’t quit.
Robert Zemeckis (The Phantom Menace)
Although George Lucas ended up directing The Phantom Menace – and the whole prequel trilogy, for that matter – himself, he originally planned to outsource. One of the directors he approached was Back to the Future’s Robert Zemeckis.
The job was also offered to Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard. Spielberg had previously been offered Return of the Jedi, and Howard would go on to direct Solo.
Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (Solo)
If the final cut of Solo: A Star Wars Story seems a tad inconsistent, it’s because half of it was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, then they were fired and replaced by Ron Howard, who directed the second half and stitched it all together as well as he could.
Reportedly, Lord and Miller were shooting the movie as a full-on comedy in the vein of Guardians of the Galaxy and Lucasfilm executives were horrified by it.
David Lynch (Return Of The Jedi)
When George Lucas was seeking a director for Return of the Jedi, he approached David Lynch, because he’d been a fan of Lynch’s debut feature Eraserhead and The Elephant Man had recently made Lynch a household name in Hollywood.
However, Lynch felt that his visual style and directorial vision was doomed to clash with Lucas’, and Lucas would win every creative battle, so he turned down the offer and made Dune instead.
Brad Bird (The Force Awakens)
Before J.J. Abrams was hired to kickstart the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Brad Bird was approached for the job. Bird turned down the offer in order to stick to his original plan and make Tomorrowland.
Asked about turning down the job, Bird explained, “It absolutely was [a difficult decision]. But there was no way to do that film without junking [Tomorrowland], and we had already gotten George Clooney involved, and I was excited about this film. I understand they had to get [The Force Awakens] made, and they would’ve had to push it in order for me to do it.”
James Mangold (Boba Fett Spin-Off)
After Josh Trank dropped out of the Boba Fett spin-off movie, Lucasfilm put the project in turnaround and brought on James Mangold to write and direct the movie. Based on the mix of genre spectacle and neo-western flair that he brought to Logan, Mangold probably would’ve helmed the Fett spin-off as a thrilling space western.
However, the project fell through and Lucasfilm decided to focus its efforts on bringing The Mandalorian to Disney’s then-upcoming streaming service.
Paul Verhoeven (Return Of The Jedi)
After Steven Spielberg turned down the chance to direct Return of the Jedi, he recommended then-newcomer Paul Verhoeven for the job. Lucas quickly decided against it after seeing the graphic content in Verhoeven’s Spetters.
David Cronenberg was also offered the job, but he turned it down in order to make Videodrome and adapt Stephen King’s The Dead Zone.
Colin Trevorrow (The Rise Of Skywalker)
When Episode IX first entered development, Colin Trevorrow was hired to write the script with his co-writer Derek Connolly and direct the movie. However, he eventually left the project and was replaced by J.J. Abrams. It’s unclear exactly why Trevorrow left, but it seems to have been a mutual parting of ways, as there were rumors that Kathleen Kennedy was unhappy with Trevorrow’s writing, and his attitude, and the box office failure of his film The Book of Henry gave Lucasfilm cold feet.
Elements of Trevorrow’s script, titled Duel of the Fates, recently leaked online, and Star Wars fans seem to universally agree that it would’ve been a lot better than the plot hole-ridden Rise of Skywalker.