Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson reveals his idea for a Hoth-set Star Wars horror movie. As the Star Wars franchise continues to evolve and grow, it seems that an ongoing stream of new ideas for films set in the galaxy far, far away also continue to be offered up.
There’s no question that Star Wars fans are always on the lookout for a new and exciting storyline to explore. Over the past five years, the Star Wars franchise has been more adventurous with its universe than ever before. Spinoff film Rogue One was quickly embraced by critics and fans, however, the Han Solo standalone film, Solo, from Ron Howard didn’t quite hit the same mark. At the same time, Disney’s Jon Favreau-led Star Wars TV series, The Mandalorian, has opened up a new world of exciting prospects and even more spinoff films as well as a Star Wars new trilogy are on their way. All in all, the Star Wars universe has no shortage of new material, and even the densely layered original trilogy has plenty of characters and potential situations for new stories to thrive within. Yet despite the variety of opportunities, there has yet to be a film or series that has dared to take the established world of Star Wars and add it to another genre. Some might argue that this is a good thing and that Star Wars should never be altered in such a drastic way. But perhaps the idea is worth considering.
The proposed idea of a Star Wars film meshed with another genre is indeed an actuality, and comes to us courtesy of Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson. In a now deleted tweet from the successful filmmaker’s Twitter account, Derrickson says that were he to make a Star Wars film, it would be an R-rated Hoth-set horror film in the vein of John Carpenter's classic The Thing or author H.P. Lovecraft’s In The Mountains of Madness. Derrickson also stated that he would call the film HOTH. You can check out the full tweet below:
There’s no clear indication as to why the tweet was deleted, but Derrickson’s idea is sure to set off much discussion among Star Wars fans. The ice planet of Hoth was first introduced in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back – a film that is still considered by many fans to be the greatest Star Wars film of them all. Part of the charm of the film was its dark tone, and Hoth, with its remote bases, Tauntauns and menacing Wampas, was a place that felt every bit as isolated as it looked. The idea then, of making it a place where a horror film unfolded seems perfect, though Derrickson’s idea of leaving out any of the past characters or connection to past storylines could feel a little too far removed from Star Wars lore for some. Even Rogue One, which largely eschewed most of what we knew about Star Wars up to that point, connected to the series.
Still, it’s definitely a unique idea from Derrickson. Whether or not it will ever actually happen, however, is another story altogether. Disney remains protective of its properties and Star Wars certainly is no exception. Ideas for Star Wars films that stay true to the franchise and its complex universe is one thing, but when those ideas happen to stray from the established format and mix in something as un-family friendly as horror, it’s probably not going to pique much interest among Lucasfilm gatekeepers. That’s not to say it could never happen, but for now at least, it does seem unlikely.
Source: Scott Derrickson