The One Demand That Made Lucasfilm Turn Down David Fincher’s Star Wars Pitch

David Fincher almost made a Star Wars movie. The deal fell apart for a very Fincher reason, and yes, the version he was circling sounds like a sharp left turn from what Lucasfilm usually greenlights.

Why it didn’t happen

Industry reporter Jeff Sneider says Fincher pitched Lucasfilm and pushed for final cut on the film. Lucasfilm wouldn’t go there. No final cut, no Fincher. That puts him in the long line of heavyweight filmmakers who stepped away from Star Wars at one point or another, including David Lynch, David Cronenberg, and Steven Spielberg (all for their own reasons, but you get the idea).

What his Star Wars would have been

Details are thin, but Sneider adds that Fincher’s idea was set after The Rise of Skywalker and would have centered on a character introduced in the sequel trilogy. Plot specifics and the lead are still a mystery. What isn’t hard to imagine: the tone. If you’ve seen Se7en or Zodiac, you can picture the vibe — a moodier, darker Star Wars than the typical Saturday-serial adventure energy.

Also worth noting: Fincher isn’t a random tourist here. He worked on Return of the Jedi back in the day as a member of the crew, before he became, well, David Fincher.

• Fincher pitched a post-Rise of Skywalker film anchored by a sequel-trilogy character
• He asked for final cut; Lucasfilm declined; talks ended
• He previously did crew work on Return of the Jedi
• He was also courted for The Force Awakens but passed
• Other big names who didn’t end up directing Star Wars: David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Steven Spielberg

He already said no once: The Force Awakens

Lucasfilm did approach Fincher about directing Episode VII. He turned it down. On The Empire Film Podcast, he basically said the stress of inheriting that machine would be next-level. His own words:

Look, it’s a plum assignment. I don’t know what’s worse, being George Lucas on the set of the first one where everyone’s going, "Alderaan? What the hell is this?" Where everyone’s making fun. But I can’t imagine the kind of intestinal fortitude one has to have following up the success of these last two. That’s a whole other level.

Translation: it’s a dream job until you remember the weight of the history, the money, and the fan microscope. Hard pass.

So why the stalemate over final cut?

Final cut is the one thing studios rarely hand over on a mega-franchise. Star Wars is corporate crown-jewel territory, and Lucasfilm likes to keep a tight hand on the wheel. Fincher, understandably, likes control. Neither side blinked. End of story.

A quick correction on a rumor

If you saw chatter about Fincher working on a follow-up to Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, that’s not him. That’s a Tarantino project, separate lane entirely.

The what-if that won’t die

Even with only scraps of info, the idea of a Fincher Star Wars set after The Rise of Skywalker — with a sequel-era lead and a bleaker tone — is catnip for fans who want the franchise to swing harder. Whether Lucasfilm ever takes that kind of risk is another question.

Curious where you land: should Lucasfilm have given Fincher final cut to see what that version looked like?

If you want to revisit the whole saga, Star Wars movies and shows are streaming on Disney+ in the U.S.