Jennifer Kent“The Babadook” might have sounded conventional on paper, but it was nothing but. The Aussie horror film’s success was credited to its writer-director Jennifer Kent. She infused a much-needed level of freshness to a tired formula. Raising B-movie horror tropes to the level of art ain’t easy, just ask George Lucas who did the same in 1977 with “Star Wars.” Kent had a skimpy $2M budget on “The Babadook,” and yet she created a visually arresting film. Isn’t it time we gave young female talent a shot at a major blockbuster? It worked wonders this summer with Patty Jenkins‘ “Wonder Woman.” Kent recently wrapped up “The Nightingale” and has nothing else on her table for the time being. Why not let her break up the boys club and bring her own unique voice to “Star Wars“?
Brad Bird
Now, this might seem like an impossible choice given that “The Incredibles 2” is less than a year away from release, but there is a precedent for this assignment. Back when Lucasfilm and Disney were first putting together what would eventually become “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” they went to Brad Bird. (This makes all of those “J.J. was our first and only choice” anecdotes from Kathy Kennedy and others on the ‘Force Awakens’ Blu-ray even more hilarious and untrue.) Bird was already deep into pre-production on “Tomorrowland” but devised a situation wherein he could do both: he would shoot “Tomorrowland” and have someone else “prep” ‘Force Awakens’ for him in his absence. (This would have largely had to do with minor casting decisions and logistical organization.) When he was done shooting “Tomorrowland” he would then immediately transition to ‘Force Awakens,”‘ presumably editing both when shooting on “Star Wars” was done. His choice for this weird pre-director role? Colin Trevorrow. And it was Trevorrow’s interactions with Bird and Kennedy that got him the “Jurassic World” job, since that film’s producer, Frank Marshall, is Kennedy’s husband. (Bird would eventually have a small role as the voice of the monorail driver in that film).
Okay, so how would Bird directing “IX” work? Well, “The Incredibles 2” is coming along nicely. From what we’ve heard it’s not in great shape but it’s getting there and the brief scene that was screened at the D23 Expo this past summer killed. Disney and Pixar could quietly bring on a co-director (or co-directors) to help finish animation, supervise post-production and oversee the score (original composer Michael Giacchino recently began work on the music). There is a precedent for this; last year Disney hired on two co-directors for “Moana” and never mentioned them once in press releases or marketing materials. (The duo consisted of Don Hall and Chris Williams, directors of “Big Hero 6,” and their primary focus was to help directors Ron Clements and John Musker get “Moana” across the finish line. So in this scenario, with Bird less invested in the day-to-day of getting “Incredibles 2” finished, he could possibly move over to ‘IX,’ especially since Lucasfilm and Pixar are a short drive from one another in the Bay area. It’s unclear whether or not Disney is going to keep the screenplay for ‘IX’ that Trevorrow, Connolly and (more recently) Jack Thorne have been chipping away at, but it’s conceivable that Bird could start anew, potentially bringing back Rian Johnson, who seems to be an adored figure at Disney and who has the indie movie background of working fast and efficiently. In order for this to work out, though, they’d seemingly have to bump the release date back to Christmas 2019 and it’s unclear if they’re willing to do that. Still, it would be a prophecy of Jedi proportions if the filmmaker they wanted to begin this new saga actually came back to continue it (if you think the end of these three films is the end of the saga, guess fucking again). At the very least maybe Bird is the one who can bring balance to the Force.
Who else? Justin Lin (“The Fast and the Furious,” “Star Trek Beyond“) would obviously be a good choice and we won’t write him up here, but in case it happens, you know who has an incredibly credible shot to take over this film if Johnson passes? “Han Solo” cleaner-upper and steady-handed veteran Ron Howard. Your thoughts? Does Lucasfilm need to get their house in order? — With Drew Taylor and Rodrigo Perez