David Cronenberg Turned Down RETURN OF THE JEDI
For fan’s of the master of all things strange and ultra-violent, hearing that David Cronenberg (EASTERN PROMISES, THE FLY) turned down the opportunity to direct a movie in the Star Wars series is insane.
Worstpreviews is reporting that before the job went to Richard Marquand, Cronenberg was approached for the job, but at the end of the day, the stylish and inventive director would not give up his own creative freedom for the picture:
“I was approached by Lucasfilm about that and it didn’t take them long to realize that maybe that wasn’t a good idea…Well you’re really restricted by the format that’s been established…So for a really inventive or innovative director, that’s being put in a straitjacket. And the visual style has been established and the characters have been cast – I mean, you’re not involved in casting the leads, which is of course, for a director, a hugely important thing.”
One can only imagine how strange and different RETURN OF THE JEDI would have been if directed by Cronenberg. The Canadian director does not normally work with big budgets, and has been making classic indie flicks for years. His most recent work includes the Robert Pattinson starring COSMOPOLIS, the Viggo Mortensen vehicles A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and EASTERN PROMISES, and most recently A DANGEROUS METHOD. (Cronenberg is working again with both Mortensen and Pattinson on MAP TO THE STARS which is a complicated and fictional expose on life in Hollywood.)
If you have not seen a Cronenberg movie before and don’t know his style check out the trailer below for COSMOPOLIS, which in its purest form, is just about a billionaire in his limo trying to get to a haircut on the other side of Manhattan.