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Movie development is hard. Things can change in an instant, forcing you to rewrite, recast, or even in some cases completely shift gears entirely and hire a brand-new director. These cases aren't common, but on big franchise films this is more common as tight deadlines and demands from the studio can always make things more difficult.
Star Wars is no exception to this. Having been around since 1977, multiple directors have come and gone during the early development phases of these projects. And while some were more publicized than others, it's a great example to use when looking at how projects can change over the course of making a movie.
Colin Trevorrow
One of the more well-known exits from a Star Wars movie, Colin Trevorrow very nearly had his chance to put his stamp in a galaxy far, far away when he was initially announced as the director of Episode IX. Then titled Duel of the Fates, it was a very different movie then what we got as shown when the script found its way online. This led to Star Wars fans doing what they do best - arguing on the internet and wondering if the film we got was better or worse than what we could have had.
Trevorrow's actual reason for leaving though remains unclear. Lucasfilm insisted that he left to due to creative differences, but the telltale signs of him putting out a widespread critical failure in The Book of Henry probably was a factor. Trevorrow later went onto direct Jurassic World Dominion instead, returning to the franchise that made him big in the first place.
David Lynch
In what was probably one of the more bizarre choices on this list, David Lynch of all directors very nearly directed a Star Wars film in the early 80s. Lucas searched for a director to helm Return of the Jedi, and numerous directors were asked (including David Cronenberg of all people!), Lynch was reportedly a "top candidate" for the project. Lynch declined however, and the role of director went instead to British filmmaker Richard Marquand.
Lynch later sighted an inability to connect with the script and universe as a reason for him turning down the project in the end, but a Lynch-directed Star Wars movie on paper sounds like a tantalizing prospect. It would be weird and surreal, but it also would be one of the universe's unique stories and the world might have not been ready for it.
James Mangold
Having made a name for himself directing westerns and films about American culture, James Mangold was tapped in mid-2018 to direct a Boba Fett film for Lucasfilm. The film had already lost a director prior (Josh Trank) so Mangold was in of himself a replacement. His experience with westerns clearly made him an obvious choice to direct the film, which ended up never happening for a variety of reasons but the failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story was widely seen as the biggest one.
It's not all bad though. Mangold stayed with Lucasfilm and signed on to direct Indiana Jones 5, making him the first director other than Spielberg to work on the franchise. As for Boba Fett himself, The Book of Boba Fett reportedly used some plot elements from the cancelled film, including the fact he survived the Sarlacc Pit, thus ensuring that Fett got his own story told regardless.
Josh Trank
But as mentioned before, what about Josh Trank? He was one of the first two directors announced to do one of the then fledgling Star Wars Anthology films, along with Gareth Edwards for what later became Rogue One. But Trank's film was father in development and almost came first, with a teaser ready to go for Star Wars Celebration that year. So what happened?
Well, Fant4stic happened. Josh Trank's behavior on set was likely to blame, as it had been public knowledge the film had development and production problems throughout. And when the film released to a critical lashing, maybe taking him off was the best choice. Trank's career has yet to fully recover from this, though he has been slowly building up steam again in the indie sphere.
Matthew Vaughn
Before J.J. Abrams took the job as the director of the first new Star Wars movie in ten years, several directors were lined up for the job. Many directors in Hollywood were vying for the position, with names like David Fincher, Jon Favreau, Guillermo del Toro, and even pre-Jurassic World Colin Trevorrow expressing interest in the project. But the director who came the closest to directing prior to Abrams was Matthew Vaughn.
In fact, Vaughn was so close to directing the film that he dropped out of X-Men: Days of Future Past to direct it and even saw the hiring of Michael Arndt as lead writer. While it's unknown why dropped out, rumors say that he believed the film to be "too violent" and wanted it to be more family friendly like prior Star Wars projects.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller
A Star Wars film so close to happening that they even filmed most of it, Phil Lord and Chris Miller's original version of Solo is seen as the "best Star Wars movie we'll never see". The duo was hired to direct the film after the massive success of The Lego Movie, and their comedic sensibilities seemed to line up well with the sarcastic draw of Han Solo as a character.
The film was shot around 95% to completion when suddenly the duo was fired from the project for "creative differences". It later came out that Lord and Miller deviated from Lawrence Kasdan's script too much for his liking, and as the movie was done as a favour to Kasdan for writing The Force Awakens, they were let go of the project and Ron Howard reshot the film.
Robert Zemeckis
In the late 80s and 90s, Robert Zemeckis was at the top of the world. One could argue he was as big as Spielberg was in his prime, and his numerous Academy Award wins and nominations spoke to themselves. So when George Lucas decided to start his prequel trilogy, Zemeckis was on the top choice of directors to do start it off.
Zemeckis, while interested, turned down the position, saying that he wanted Lucas to direct it himself and feeling uncomfortable touching a project so personal to him. Zemeckis' career later took a turn towards motion-capture films in the 2000s as he experimented with new technology.
Stephen Daldry
Stephen Daldry isn't a director you think of when you think "epic space opera" but Daldry was attached to direct an Obi-Wan Kenobi film in late-2018. His pitch was described as "Yojimbo in space" and was supposed to be a smaller scale character study that played into the loss and melancholy of the character.
The success of The Mandalorian on Disney+, however, caused Lucasfilm to shift gears, and they retooled Obi-Wan Kenobi into a miniseries on the platform, and Daldry left as a result. The final miniseries itself would undergo a complete overhaul as the final product would be very different from the initial movie pitch.
Steven Spielberg
One of the greatest mysteries of the filmmaking world is "why hasn't Steven Spielberg directed a Star Wars movie yet?". And it's understandable - Lucas and Spielberg have been friends since college and Spielberg clearly loves Star Wars from his comments to Lucas. But every time he has been approached, things just haven't lined up.
Spielberg nearly directed Star Wars three separate times - once in 1983 for Return of the Jedi, once in 1999 for The Phantom Menace, and once in 2015 for The Force Awakens. He has turned down the position every time, however, and unfortunately it seems unlikely he'll ever do one despite being a perfect choice for the material.
Zack Snyder
During the period between Revenge of the Sith and the 2012 Disney-Lucasfilm purchase, Zack Snyder very nearly had a shot at directing a Star Wars film. Pitched as a more mature take on the Star Wars mythos, the film would have taken inspiration from Seven Samurai and followed a group of bounty hunters protecting a village from Sith raiders.
The film was never made, but Snyder would continue to refine the concept outside of Star Wars and begin developing his own sci-fi epic. This would later turn into Rebel Moon, which is currently filming as Snyder's next project and his ode to Kurosawa, sci-fi, and adventure films.