UPDATED: THR reached out to Snyder’s reps, who told them: “While he is super flattered because he is a huge fan, Zack is not involved in any way with the new Star Wars. He is currently in post on his two films, Man of Steel and 300: Battle of Artemisia.”
Just for the sake of clarity – we still don’t know who is directing Star Wars: Episode VII (though, we certainly know who is not directing it), but that little piece of key information hasn’t seemed to sway the trickle of still more chatter about the Star Wars movie universe and what other projects we can start expecting to see. Next up, Vulture reports that the reason director Zack Snyder put the kibosh on rumors that he could direct the seventh Star Wars is because he might already be busy making a Star Wars film. Wait, what?
The outlet reports that the filmmaker is “developing a Star Wars project for Lucasfilm that is set within the series’ galaxy, though parallel to the next trilogy. It will be an as-yet-untitled Jedi epic loosely based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 classic Seven Samurai, with the ronin and katana being replaced by the Force-wielding knights and their iconic lightsabers.” It’s still somewhat unclear when exactly Snyder’s new project would take place in the Star Wars chronology, but Vulture also reports that “one insider expects it will not be considered part of the ‘numbered’ episodes, but rather a stand-alone film set sometime post–Episode VI events, meaning the next phase of the franchise development is much broader than previously thought.”
Back in November, Snyder told the L.A. Times that: “I don’t think I’d be interested in [directing the new episodes]…I’m a huge Star Wars fanatic. I just think doing [episodes] seven, eight and nine is just a slippery slope. It’s a whole other mythological experiment I’m excited to see, but it’s a lot of effort.” Oh, you saucy minx, Snyder, you weren’t lying, but damn if you weren’t telling the whole truth. You’re not directing the seventh, eighth, or ninth episodes, you’re doing something entirely different. Nice misdirection there.
And, still, we wait to hear who is directing the seventh episode. Who are you pulling for?