J.J. Abrams thinks Ava DuVernay should totally direct a “Star Wars” movie.
When asked to name a potential female filmmaker candidate to join the lineup of directors shaping Disney’s expanding cinematic galaxy far, far away, “The Force Awakens” director told Nerdist that “she would just kill it.”
“She is as much a fan of genre movies … and hearing her talk about, not just ‘Star Wars,’ but hearing her talk about those kinds of films is evidence that she would just kill it,” Abrams said. “When you look at her work in ‘Selma,’ which was as well told, sophisticated and humane as I think has come out in the last decade, I mean, she is just — if she can do that story that well, there’s no question she’d kill [a ‘Star Wars’] movie.”
DuVernay has already heard the flattering compliment, and responded on Twitter with, “The Force is strong with this one. xo.”
As TheWrap previously reported, at least seven female filmmakers have met with executives at Lucasfilm about working on future “Star Wars” movies. But that doesn’t mean audiences will be buying tickets for an installment directed by a woman any time soon. Disney has male directors lined up for its first five “Star Wars” movies, slated through 2019.
Marvel was interested in DuVernay directing “Black Panther,” but she said in July that she turned down the offer because they “had different ideas about what the story would be.”
“Marvel has a certain way of doing things and I think they’re fantastic and a lot of people love what they do. I loved that they reached out to me,” she told Essence.
Watch the interview below.