Star Wars Has Always Had Director Problems

The Star Wars has a director problem, although that's hardly a new thing for the space fantasy franchise. In fact, it's always had pretty major creative issues from back when the hero was called Luke Starkiller. Today we want to look at why.

Lord and Miller's departure - the result of a major questions about the Lucasfilm creative ethos - is the studio really as freeing for strong-willed filmmakers as perceived - and the outlook of future films, although the obsession with post-Disney acquisition misses that this sort of strife has been running through the series all along.

This latest departure is certainly the worst case - the oft-cited comparison point of Edgar Wright from Ant-Man three months before cameras started rolling seems pithy compared to the pair going with three weeks to go before completion of principal photography - but that's not to say we've not had serious issues before, right back to the start.

Star Wars' Troubling Director History

George Lucas Peter Cushing Grand Moff Tarkin Carrie Fisher Leia Star Wars

Although it's now held up as the narrative and tonal blueprint for the franchise, the original Star Wars was a disaster production cobbled together in the edit. George Lucas and his surrounding creatives had vision, but by all s, the original first cut (which was already a galaxy away from the script's initial draft) was a mess. It was more American Graffiti in Space than Kurosawa meets Flash Gordon and despised by most of Lucas' Movie Brat peers. Paul Hirsch, Richard Chew and Marcia Lucas (the latter of whom has been all but wiped from Star Wars history after she divorced George in 1983) came in and completely recut the film, going on to earn an Oscar for their efforts.

Empire was hit with different issues. Lucas didn't want to direct the film and instead gave the keys to USC Professor Irvin Kershner, who due to the respect from his former student had pretty much free reign with the film, leading to a subsequently harmonious production and what many regard as the best of the series. The problem here, however, was the Director's Guild of America; they objected to Star Wars' crawl, which broke the rule on opening credits in of recognizing directors, writers, and producers, leading to Lucas being fined heavily and leaving the Guild. This was a major ruction in Hollywood and meant for the next film a non-DGA filmmaker needed hiring.

And so we come to Return of the Jedi, which was was the first real clash of the sort we're getting accustomed to. Initially Lucas couldn't get someone to make the film - everyone from Steven Spielberg to David Lynch ed for reasons ranging from the DGA to dislike of blockbusters - and when he eventually got Richard Marquand, it felt very much like a puppet; the Welsh filmmaker had ideas but was perpetually at risk of being overpowered by his producer-writer - everything, from not killing Han to the Ewoks to it being the trilogy capper, was pushed by George. The pre-production was so fraught that Lucas' long-term producer, Gary Kurtz, quit and the whole thing by all s led to a heavily Lucas-led film. In fact, that meddling is likely why many still believe Lucas directed Episodes V and VI.

In this light, the prequels are the most harmonious production. After further attempts to get an outside voice (all turned down due to Star Wars now being established as his baby), Lucas chose to direct all three, removing any real chance for conflict. Of course, that was itself a problem; The Clone Wars when an arc from the first season was turned into a feature film by a green director (the otherwise very competent Dave Filoni) and pushed into cinemas. The show (and Filoni) would go on to be a major hit with many fans, but the movie that started it all still has an awkward spot in Star Wars media.

Jumping forward to Disney, now we again see problems. Little is known about the true development of original screenwriter Michael Arndt over the direction of the film and later trepidation over the repeating plot structure (something totally played down due to the initial secrecy and now it's worked out OK).

several major changes were made to the finale, as well as Darth Vader's role and cameo. Just how seismic these changes are varies from reading to reading of the film (the ending changes definitely seem beneficial) but the fact that a second director came in indicates some major meddling.

And, of course, there's Lord and Miller, who it now emerges were Fant4stic, paints a very specific picture, but as we've seen is all part of Star Wars.

As things currently stand, the only film in the entire Star Wars saga that hasn't been subject to studio-creative debate and undergone sudden changes is an harmonious Lucasfilm-approved Rian Johnson picture (and who knows the truth). One out of ten (counting The Clone Wars) are some shocking odds.

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Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo Donald Glover as Lando and Chewbacca Star Wars Fan Art

Why Does This Happen?

Star Wars isn't your standard franchise. Obviously its scale and longevity are unparalleled - at this point it's been the biggest series around for three totally distinct iterations - but the way it operates has and always will be totally unique. It's been a synergized brand pretty much since Lucas wrangled the merchandising rights and as such exists bigger than one single director.

For the longest time the ruler was George, and perhaps this is why the strange creative balance wasn't immediately prominent. He personally made four of the original six, and provided story for them all, so was always taken as the prime creative voice no matter what the credits said. But while that's true, his real power came not as the man calling the shots (we've already stated he didn't want to direct the prequels) rather his position as writer and executive producer; he was always thinking bigger than a single film.

In the modern era the leader is Kathleen Kennedy, who has been endeavoring to honor the original vision, but within all this we have a contradiction. The chosen directors post-Disney acquisition are mostly strong-willed filmmakers with a distinctive voice, especially when it comes to story. They don't go with as fresh and unproven talent as the Marvel movies - every director thus far, bar Johnson, has helmed a major studio picture previously - but the notion of a dominant imagination is there. However, the meddling with Edwards, Trank, and Lord and Miller shows that this is really a front for oversight from writers and producers, not too far from the Lucas-era; there's an illusion of freedom but only to a point. Thus, while some director may want to introduce documentary war or comedic stylings, what's being made has to ultimately be Star Wars. And the confusion of what that means is the core of all this.

What Actually Is Star Wars?

If you've ever been asked to describe Star Wars to one of the unlucky people who've somehow avoided that galaxy far, far away for the past forty years, you know it's no easy task. Do you begin by simply telling the story (and if so from what starting point)? Do you detail the real-life developments, inspiration and impact? Or perhaps try to convey the tone and explain how it's space fantasy, not sci-fi? It gets trickier the more specific you get; while it's very easy to list elements of the formula - the opening crawl, the Ben Burtt sounds, the symphonic score, transition wipes - and pinpoint the broad genre, what actually makes a Star Wars movie is a nebulous concept. Now imagine that from a creative standpoint trying to replicate and advance. It's a near impossible task.

This ethereal quality is perhaps best exemplified by the two recent films. Both The Force Awakens and Rogue One were praised for "feeling like" Star Wars, yet they couldn't be more different; reductively put, Episode VII is a distillation of Star Wars' pop culture stamp, while Rogue One is an evoking of the original movie's feel.

There is no simple answer to what Star Wars is. Further, it doesn't seem like that at any point in the series' history anybody has been able to truly convey what it is. The prequels were vilified for being too different and modern Lucasfilm is occasionally criticized for not straying far enough from the classic stories while simultaneously wrestling with which tropes are exclusive to Skywalker Saga films and what can be ditched for the Stories; Lucas or Kennedy, they're not quite sure what they're making.

Practically, this means any product from the franchise needs to decide its interpretation and hope it fits. This is where having an eye higher than the director comes in (once Lucas, now Kennedy), but even then, whether a film actually "feels like" Star Wars is something that is not often immediately apparent, which necessitates subsequent alteration. Indeed, the perceived problems with Han Solo reportedly only emerged when an assembly cut was put together and the effective individual scenes revealed something else entirely.

What we can ascertain about the official definition is that there's a lot of weight put on the franchise's early days, proven by the focus on the original era and iconography in recent films, although these are hardly ideal blueprints. Both Star Wars and Empire were making it up as they went (hence their initial issues), yet once those first two films (and to a degree the third) had defined what Star Wars vaguely was, every subsequent movie lived in their shadow. After all, it's from Jedi onwards where the director issues come from attempts at making a best fit movie (as opposed to just general problems) and they run through to now; the mid-production problems with Rogue One and Han Solo appear to be related to matching the early tone and style. As with Lucas' early edit, they're still trying to define Star Wars.

Making Star Wars invariably leads to director problems because directing this franchise is a balancing act of unclear factors that are heavily open to interpretation and only become crystalized late in production - it's like navigating an asteroid field or landing by an Imperial base undetected. A production has to be, as it was back in 1977, a collaborative process with everyone - from concept to edit - working on the same page. And when nobody knows which page we're working from, that's easier said than done.