A plethora of A-list Hollywood directors were linked with Star Wars: Episode VII before JJ Abrams took the helm, and he turned the gig down first time around.
Auteurist David Fincher (Gone Girl) talked exclusively to Total Film about Lucasfilm approaching him to direct Episode VII:
"I talked to Kathy about it, but I think that it’s a different thing from… I don’t know what Disney-Lucasfilm will be like. It’s tricky. My favorite is The Empire Strikes Back. If I said, ‘I want to do something more like that,’ then I’m sure the people paying for it would be like, ‘No! You can’t do that! We want it like the other one with all the creatures!’ I always thought of Star Wars as the story of two slaves [C-3PO and R2-D2] who go from owner to owner, witnessing their masters’ folly, the ultimate folly of man… I thought it was an interesting idea in the first two, but it’s kind of gone by Return Of The Jedi."
Whilst Fincher may not be directing Episode VII, there's no reason to conclude he may never be attached to a spin-off movie at Disney. Plus he got his career break working as an assistant cameraman on Return of the Jedi.
Do you wish David Fincher had directed Star Wars? Let me know in the comments below.