Denis Villeneuve has no interest in making a Star Wars movie.

While many filmmakers aspire to make an instalment in George Lucas’s space opera, the Dune director has never had that dream because 1983’s Return of the Jedi ruined the franchise for him.

“I was the target audience. I was 10 years old. It went to my brain like a silver bullet. I became obsessed with Star Wars,” he said on The Town podcast. “I mean, The Empire Strikes Back is the movie that I anticipated the most in my life. I saw the movie a billion times onscreen. I was traumatised by The Empire Strikes Back. I adore Star Wars.”

The Star Wars franchise began in 1977 with A New Hope and was followed up by 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, which is often considered the best film in the franchise and among the greatest films ever made. The concluding chapter of the original trilogy, 1983’s The Return of the Jedi, took a more light-hearted turn and featured small furry creatures called Ewoks.

Villeneuve admitted he was so angry over the change of tone that he wanted to have a conversation with creator Lucas.

“The problem is that it all derailed in 1983 with Return of the Jedi,” he continued. “It’s a long story. I was 15 years old, and my best friend and I wanted to take a cab and go to L.A. and talk to George Lucas – we were so angry! Still today, the Ewoks. It turned out to be a comedy for kids… Star Wars became crystallised in its own mythology, very dogmatic, it seemed like a recipe, no more surprises. So I’m not dreaming to do a Star Wars because it feels like code is very codified.”

Directors such as Ron Howard, J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson have all made films within the Star Wars universe. Famous filmmakers including Jon Favreau and James Mangold are working on upcoming movies and the likes of Taika Waititi, Shawn Levy and Patty Jenkins have projects in development.

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