Matthew Vaughn Shares His Take on ‘Star Wars’ and His Ideas for Rebooting the Franchise
Matthew Vaughn (director of the Kingsman movies) shared on the “Happy, Sad, Confused” podcast what he would do with the Star Wars franchise and about the state of Hollywood blockbusters. His comments interestingly coincide with rumors years ago that Vaughn was in talks to direct a Star Wars film, possibly even Episode VII.
While Star Wars wasn’t the center of the conversation, it did come up when asked about his ideas for other big franchises. Vaughn commented how he would like to reboot the Star Wars franchise, likening his idea to the James Bond films, or various other superhero movies, where other creatives put their spin on familiar stories:
“For me, doing a Star Wars movie is to play with the characters I love. If they said to me they’d reboot Star Wars and actually have Luke Skywalker, Solo and Vader and do your version of it. Everyone would say you’re an idiot to try, but that would excite me.”
Vaughn further commented on the state of Star Wars and how he feels the series is now putting the focus on the wrong things, expressing a need for a new film:
“Why are the [Star Wars] characters so hallowed that from 1977 you can’t re-do it for a new audience?
Star Wars is the Skywalker family and that’s where I think they’ve gone wrong. They’ve forgot. They’ve done brilliantly in TV but it needs an epic new film. That’s what I would do. Everyone is going to go batshit crazy but let’s bring it on. If you want a new generation, make the movie for them. The old generation, hopefully you make it well enough that they enjoy it.”
While Matthew Vaughn is currently making the rounds for his new film, Argylle, out early next year, it should be noted Vaughn was likely in talks to direct a previous Star Wars film. Back in 2012, Vaughn was rumored to be one of the directors for Episode VII. Not long after, comic book creator and collaborator Mark Millar tweeted about Matthew Vaughn’s possible Star Wars involvement, however, both are regulated to the “rumor mill” and were never confirmed.
Lastly, Vaughn also shared his thoughts about the current state of Hollywood and how the focus on making profits has now become the main driving force. He emphasized how creativity should be the main driving force, versus commerce:
“The studios, it’s like any artistic form. The music business, movies, fashion… the financing and the commerce has taken over the creative. That always means eventually for short-term gains you do well, but long term you kill everything. That’s what’s happening now… film, music, art. Commerce took over and now the pendulum is starting to swing back. Creativity should always be the driving force of any decision and then you think about how to make money out of it afterwards. If you try to make money upfront, you’ll kill some great franchises.”
Do you agree with Vaughn’s comments? Should Star Wars be rebooted with a new cast, focusing more on the Skywalker family? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
