Much as we all wanted him to hop on to Episode VII, Brad Bird doesn't have any current plans to direct a Star Wars film-- which, lets be honest, is our loss. Bird is the mastermind behind three great animated films (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille) along with his insanely entertaining live-action debut Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, which could very well be the best fourquel of all time. Bird has proven over and over that he's got amazing storytelling skills plus a knack for directing action. If at any point down the line he steps on to a Star Wars film, we could only be so lucky.
And in the meantime, through the most circuitous means possible, we're getting a brief glimpse into how Bird thinks about the Star Wars films that already exist, and what he would change about them. In the middle of a lengthy interview with Esquire, comedian Patton Oswalt managed to turn a conversation about his early years in stand-up into a Star Wars metaphor, all based on a theory that his Ratatouille director Bird had about Return of the Jedi. Check out what he had to say below:
I was talking with [director] Brad Bird one time, and he said it's like the beginning of Return of the Jedi. Luke shows up and he's a badass. He said they should've opened it with Luke in the swamp saying to Yoda, "You said 'Don't go.' I said 'Fuck you, I'm gonna go help my friends.' I went and got my hand cut off and my friends are in even worse trouble because of what I did. I fucked up everything." And then Yoda should have gone, "Now you're a Jedi. Now you're beyond the fear of failure. Now you're ready." That would have made it even cooler.
It's hard to find a Patton Oswalt interview that doesn't wind up name checking Star Wars, but thanks to one perfectly timed (and totally justified namedrop), we now have an awesome insight from one of the best film storytellers out there. With Bird hard at work on the super-secretive project known as Tomorrowland, we've got plenty of great work from him to look forward to. But if his pal J.J. Abrams wants to ring him for advice as he oh-so-slowly gets started on Episode VII, we're sure Bird would have great advice.
