Brad Bird Won't Direct Star Wars Episode VII

The Parr family running in costume in The Incredibles.
(Image credit: Disney/Pixar)

When Star Wars Episode VII was first announced the internet went nuts suggesting possible directors to helm the project. Fans and journalists alike threw out names like J.J. Abrams, Guillermo del Toro, and Steven Spielberg, but of the dozens of names none sounded better in my mind than Brad Bird. Beyond the fact that the guy has done nothing but produce awesome work since first entering the industry - such as the early years of The Simpsons, Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - the man simply has an amazing directorial mind and an brilliant sense of story and structure.

But I am incredibly sad to report that Bird will not be the man put in charge of leading the next generation of Star Wars. Despite the fact that fans even went as far as to create a campaign video promoting the idea of hiring the director for the job, Bird took to his Twitter account this evening to officially announce that he will not be making Episode VII, responding to a fan's comment about the legendary franchise.

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Responding to even more questions, he did say that he is currently working on another science fiction project, titled 1952 (which was recently rumored to have George Clooney interested). That film, however, has not yet gotten the green light from Disney, but there is a script from Damon Lindelof and it's said to be a "Close Encounters-esque tentpole." And while Bird may not be helming Star Wars Episode VII, that doesn't mean he's not excited for it.

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So where do you go from here? Both Abrams and Spielberg have said no, but then again Joe Johnston and Jon Favreau have said that they would be interested in giving it a shot. If Bird isn't doing it, who is your next choice?

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.