Abrams, Favreau, Del Toro, and Trevorrow Talk about Directing STAR WARS; Plus Recap on Recent EPISODE VII News

With a director yet to be announced, speculation has run rampant.  Two possible contenders for the job, J.J. Abrams, Jon Favreau, Guillermo Del Toro, and Colin Tervorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) have chimed in on whether or not they would want to get behind the camera for Star Wars: Episode VII.  Hit the jump for what each director had to say as well as a recap of recent Star Wars news.  Star Wars:  Episode VII is due out in 2015.

Speaking to Hollywood Life, Abrams has declined any possibility of taking the gig, although he’s excited to see the final product:

“Look, Star Wars is one of my favorite movies of all time. I frankly feel that – I almost feel that, in a weird way, the opportunity for whomever it is to direct that movie, it comes with the burden of being that kind of iconic movie and series. I was never a big Star Trek fan growing up, so for me, working on Star Trek didn’t have any of that, you know, almost fatal sacrilege, and so, I am looking forward more then anyone to the next iterations of Star Wars, but I believe I will be going as a paying moviegoer!”

As for Favreau, he doesn’t say one way or the other, but it doesn’t sound like he’s being coy as much as he’s skillfully dodging the question:

“I think both J.J. and I come from a generation of people who formed our whole creative persona around what we experienced as kids from watching those films, and I have had the good fortune of working with George [Lucas] and around George, and whether it is doing a voice on Clone Wars, or being at the Skywalker Ranch mixing Iron Man – so I have been very happy and lucky to just experience the culture that Lucas has created, both in my own life growing up as a kid and professional – whether it was interviewing him at film festivals on stage, he is just a really wonderful, talented gifted guy who has changed the business so much, so I am just giddy, first and foremost as a fan, to see what happens with it. I think there is a lot of question marks of how they are going to do it, and who they are going to do it with, and what the story is going to be about; but to say that I am not excited about it is definitely an understatement. We’ll see.”

Here’s what Del Toro had to say to Fanhattan Blog about getting in the director’s chair:

You know, I saw it on the Internet, but I haven’t approached them, they haven’t formally approached me. I mean, I heard some rumblings, but to me it’s really — I have so many projects to discuss or think about. [For] something that is not a possibility yet, I don’t do that. You know, because I have so many things that I need to catch up with. If this becomes ever a reality, and there’s an approach to do it, I would then think about it, but — it’s like thinking if I want to date a supermodel. I don’t think about these things.”

Finally, Trevorrow, the unlikeliest choice simply due to his inexperience, tells Filmmixern.se [via /Film]:

“Certainly, no specifics about what’s going on behind the scenes in the selection of that person [a director]. I think that I can speak as a Star Wars fan, which is important to me. Whoever does do this movie, I think, just needs to have a fundamental understanding of why it’s important to us. We come from a generation who grew up with this as children, to us it’s almost a belief system. It’s harder for people who are older or who were already teenagers when the movie came out to understand how deeply it is our mythology. And there are a bunch of incredible directors who are up for this job… I think whoever gets it will have that fundamental understanding of why Star Wars matters so much to a billion people. It’s just incredible. So that’s all I can say about that. I’m equally excited about it. … that’s all you’re gonna get!”

Here’s a recap of some our recent Star Wars stories:

• Michael Arndt confirmed to write the screenplay Star Wars:  Episode VII
• Producers Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas talk Star Wars directors
• Matthew Vaughn rumored to direct Episode VII
• Harrison Ford open to reprising his role as Han Solo
• Mark Hamill talks about the upcoming sequel