Ridley Scott has been in charge of more than one sci-fi franchise, so it should come as no surprise to learn that some people about thought about putting him in charge of a Star Wars movie. However, when he was asked about it in a recent interview, Scott made it clear that there was no chance of that ever happening, claiming that he was “too dangerous” to do so.
“Too dangerous” can sound rather odd, but it made more sense once Scott explained what he was thinking. In short, Disney has been choosing less experienced directors who have managed to catch their attention for their projects, whether those projects happen to be Marvel projects or Star Wars projects. For obvious reasons, Scott is nothing like the directors that Disney has been choosing, seeing as how he can claim decades and decades of experience as a successful director.
As for why Disney has been choosing its directors based on these criteria, it can be summed up as a matter of control. Disney and its subsidiaries want increased control over their projects, which makes sense when they are supposed to be set in shared, coherent settings. This means that less experienced directors with less power are perfect for them because they can override potential objections, as shown by what happened with the previous directors of Solo: A Star Wars Story, who made it too comedic for Disney’s preferences. In contrast, someone like Scott would have a lot more influence, which in turn, would make them a lot more willing to go their way as well as fight to make sure that the resulting movie goes their way.
Speaking of which, Scott went on to blast Disney for its preference for less experienced directors in a simple and straightforward manner. In Scott’s view, directors should gain experience by making movies with bigger and bigger budgets as a gradual process instead of jumping from movies with budgets that measure in the tens of millions to movies with budgets that measure in the hundreds of millions. Said process takes time, but in Scott’s view, it is worth it because it reduces the costs that come from frequent re-shoots, which are an inevitable consequence of choosing a director who is doing a great deal of learning by doing while on the set. Compared to this, an experienced director might have a more set way of doing things, but they can make up for it by knowing what they are doing, thus reducing the number of potential errors that will pop up over the course of the production.
What Scott says about the reason that he would not be chosen to direct a Star Wars movie sounds reasonable. Furthermore, his criticism of Disney as well as the studio system have firm foundations. However, at the same time, it is difficult to deny that Disney has its own understandable reasons for making its movies the way it does, meaning that as always, reforming the current system into something better is neither simple nor straightforward.
Follow Us
