In an interview with BAFTA, Dennis Villeneuve talked about ‘Star Wars’ and stated that he was obsessed with ‘Empire Strikes Back,’ which he watched 12 times as a child.
He said, “I was 12 or something, and my mother allowed us to to go by bicycle and go to the theater to watch ‘Empire Strikes Back.’ The owner of the theater was really moved that we did all this riding. We had to go back and forth, you know, on those tiny bikes. He was allowing us to watch the movie twice in a row. So I watched ‘Empire Strikes Back’ like that maybe 12 times, in the theater with a bicycle going back and forth!
“When I saw ‘Empire Strikes Back’ the first time in theater. I remember it still today. First of all, the trauma of Luke losing his hand was an image that I was not prepared to see. And that was extremely violent for a kid. After that, after the physical torture, having the psychological torture to understand that the evil was his father and that removed all the air out of my lungs. I mean, I was like… floored. I was obsessed by the design and the visual approach, the drama of it. That I think was one of the moments that the birth of the idea that cinema is the most powerful way to tell a story. That’s all I will say.”
The ‘Dune’ director admits he’s obsessed with ‘Star Wars,’ but he also said he would not direct a new ‘Star Wars’ movie.
Villeneuve first admitted that he was a fan of the franchise as a kid, saying, “I was the target audience. I was 10 years old. It went to my brain like a silver bullet. I became obsessed with ‘Star Wars.’ I mean, ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ is the movie that I anticipated the most in my life. I saw the movie a billion times onscreen. I was traumatised by ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’ I adore ‘Star Wars.’”
He stated, “‘Star Wars’ became crystallised in its own mythology, very dogmatic, it seemed like a recipe, no more surprises. So, I’m not dreaming to do a ‘Star Wars’ because it feels like code is very codified.”
The director explained why he will not direct a future ‘Star Wars’ movie.
