Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have been friends for decades. Nevertheless, Spielberg has never directed a single film from the Star Wars saga. There is a reason for that.
Who directed Star Wars? The very first film A New Hope was directed by George Lucas himself. At that time, it was his grand, ambitious project into which he poured all his heart and soul.
However, over time he realized that directing was not his favorite activity in filmmaking. He preferred to come up with stories and fictional universes, alongside Star Wars, Indiana Jones is one of them.
Instead of directing himself, Lucas let others take the helm. Notably Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquand for Episode 5 and 6 of the original trilogy. However, even back then, Steven Spielberg was eyeing the possibility of directing a Star Wars film. After all, it was the franchise of his good friend George.
But it never happened. Today, many years later, Spielberg believes he has found an explanation for that.
George Lucas’s Baby
Why did Spielberg never direct Star Wars? Spielberg lacked experience in blockbuster cinema during the time of the original trilogy. He, who always performs the same ritual before filming, had already shot Indiana Jones. Or even Jaws, which Quentin Tarantino claims is one of the best entertainment films of all time.
Therefore, it would have made sense to give his personal touch to the story of Luke Skywalker. However, George Lucas resisted allowing Spielberg to direct the original trilogy. Spielberg says today:
He didn’t want me to do it. I understand why – Star Wars is George’s baby. It’s his home franchise and his signature.
Steven Spielberg via The Guardian
Star Wars was meant to be shaped by Lucas’s own vision. He found it easier to pass that on to other directors who were not Spielberg. Lucas probably feared that Spielberg’s style might change “his” Star Wars too much.
Years later, however, Lucas reconsidered and even thought about letting Spielberg take the director’s chair for the first installment of the prequels, The Phantom Menace. By then, Spielberg already knew how much Star Wars meant to his friend and asked why he didn’t want to direct again himself.
Lucas took that offer to heart and actually directed all the films of the prequel trilogy himself.
Will Spielberg make a Star Wars film in the future? The chances of that happening are very slim. Since the brand was acquired by Disney in 2012, the director has given up on that idea. Even George Lucas is only involved as an advisor in the current projects surrounding Star Wars. Disney rejected direct collaboration with Lucas on Episode 7, which greatly disappointed the filmmaker.
