J.J. Abrams, as you no doubt know, is directing Star Wars: Episode VII for Disney and Lucasfilm, and his appointment has been met with nearly universal praise thanks to his dedication to returning the franchise to its classic trilogy roots.
But Abrams wasn't the only director Disney considered. Last year, Brad Bird told reporters that he talked to Disney about directing Episode VII at one point, but decided against it so he could work on his mysterious George Clooney film Tomorrowland instead. X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn was also considered, but he and Lucasfilm had very different ideas of what Episode VII should be like (word has it Vaughn wanted heavier violence than Lucasfilm was comfortable with).
Now we can add another name to Disney's shortlist thanks to Total Film, and it's one that should surprise the heck out of you: David Fincher. That's right, the director of Se7en, Fight Club and The Social Network once spoke to Disney about taking on the first chapter of the new Star Wars trilogy.
Can you imagine what that would have been like? Darker, obviously. But more than that, Fincher's films have such an adult, sophisticated tone... It's hard to see why Disney and Lucasfilm even considered him as a good fit.
But even more surprising than Fincher being thought of for the job is what his take on the material was. In an interview with Total Film to promote his new movie Gone Girl, Fincher says that when he talked to Kathleen Kennedy about Episode VII, his thinking about the saga was decidedly different than anything we've seen before.
"I always thought of Star Wars as the story of two slaves who go from owner to owner, witnessing their masters' folly, the ultimate folly of man," said Fincher. The "slaves" he referred to were droids C-3PO and R2-D2, and believe it or not, Fincher hints that he thought this was the under-riding theme of the original trilogy. "I thought it was an interesting idea in the first two, but it's kind of gone by Return of the Jedi."
Kinda makes you go...
