When Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm was first announced, a lot of Neill Blomkamp fans wanted the District 9 director to take on Star Wars: Episode VII. After all, with his best picture nominated debut he created a wonderful dystopian film that not only appealed to sci-fi nuts, but to moviegoers worldwide. Why wouldn’t he be perfect for Star Wars? Well it turns out the folks over at Disney thought the same thing, but Blomkamp wasn’t interested in being a part of the franchise.
One paragraph from an extremely interesting Blomkamp profile in Wired mentioned that Elysium producer Simon Kinberg approached Blomkamp about joining the franchise. Blomkamp says he’s not a fan of adapting someone else’s work, but he wouldn’t rule it out entirely. Check out that entire paragraph below.
He’s still highly resistant to the idea of adapting someone else’s work—particularly a beloved franchise with high expectations to live up to—but he won’t rule it out entirely. So far, though, Blomkamp has held his ground: He turned down the possibility of working on a new Star Wars movie after the subject was “gingerly” broached by Elysium producer and close friend Simon Kinberg, who’s deeply involved in the revitalized franchise.
I’m most definitely one of the Blomkamp fans who wanted him to take on a Star Wars film. I think his ability to create a depressing world would be perfect for the post-war galaxy that the New Republic is faced with rebuilding. Although he isn’t doing Episode VII, I’m still holding out hope that Blomkamp is the man to helm a Boba Fett spin-off.
As great as it would be to see Blomkamp work on Star Wars, if his reason for passing is to continue to create innovative new science fiction, then there’s hardly anyone who has much to complain about, except perhaps Lucasfilm. District 9 was excellent, and from what we’ve seen so far, Elysium looks like it’s going to be just as good, if not better. If Blomkamp keeps churning out smart, creative sci-fi, I’m happy to see other directors deal with a galaxy far, far away.
What do you think of Blomkamp turning down Star Wars? Would you have liked to see him direct one of the upcoming films? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.