Director and screenwriterMatthew Vaughnis, by his own admission, aStar Warssuperfan. In fact, it turns out that, if given the option between pursuing theKingsmanfranchise and having the opportunity to go help craft a galaxy far, far away, he would’ve jumped at the latter immediately. During a group interview ahead of the release of the upcomingKingsmanprequel filmThe King’s Man, Vaughn didn’t mince words when it came to making his longtime dream known when asked if he’d ever want to contribute to theStar Warsuniverse in a directing capacity.
“If you’d asked me that 10 years ago, I would’ve givenKingsmanto Lucasfilm for free to get to go [shoot] aStar Warsfilm,” Vaughn said, although he also clarified that his comment was in relation to films that are “part of the Skywalker saga,” or widely regarded as the main continuity ofStar Warsmovies. The long-running sci-fi franchise has been a defining one for Vaughn, who admitted that he saw the first movie at a pivotal age in his life:
“Star Wars was a really important movie to me. I mean, I thought I liked films, and then I saw Star Wars. I can so remember as a six or seven-year-old boy sitting in the cinema, and I was young enough to get confused. I thought Darth Vader was in the small spaceship going inside and I thought Princess Leia is in the Death Destroyer, or whatever those things are called. I literally watched and I thought ‘Well, she’s the princess and Darth Vader’s like little pirate coming in and overtaking.’ Even now when I hear the 20th Century Studios/Fox theme, whatever movie I watch, I’m always disappointed that it’s not about to go off into Star Wars.”
Vaughn also admitted that during production on the firstKingsmanmovie,The Secret Service, he had a moment of being starstruck when working with one of his own longtime heroes. “I’ve now worked with a lot of movie stars and the most starstruck I’ve ever, ever been looking through the camera was at Mark Hamill. I mean, I was just, I’ve got fucking Luke Skywalker sitting in front of me saying, ‘What you want me to do, Matthew?’ And I’m like, ‘Do not look like a fanboy nerd right now. Play it cool.’ And I drove him nuts because that was when [The Force Awakens] got announced and he was gonna be in it. I was like, ‘Dude, you’ve gotta tell me what’s going on, what’s going on?’ And he didn’t say zippo to me.”
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But would Vaughn be willing to assume a seat in the director’s chair for an upcomingStar Warsmovie? In his words, well, never say never:
“[The] answer is, if they really wanted a new proper Star Wars film, a proper one, a Star Wars movie that could be its own thing, I wouldn’t say no. I mean, just to have a go with a lightsaber. I think out of all the IP I’m not involved with… Star Wars would always get my attention. If they rang me up. They’ve got no interest in working with me, just to be very clear, you know. I’m probably a little bit too, um, what’s the word? Maverick, maybe? But I promise if I did it, I would do my… I’m not saying no one tries to make a bad film, but I would be meticulous on trying to protect the legacy of something that I fell in love with movies for. Sorry for the very long-winded answer. But yes, I’d like to.”
