"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams says he'd like to see "Selma's" Ava DuVernay direct as "Star Wars" film.
Back in October, Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy expressed her interest in seeing a woman direct one of the upcoming "Star Wars" films. Now, her director of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," J.J. Abrams, has specifically mentioned DuVernay as his top pick.
"One name that immediately comes to mind is Ava DuVernay, who I thought did just a mind-blowingly great job with Selma," Abrams told Yahoo! Movies. "And getting to know her a little since that movie...she is such a fan of genre films and storytelling...because she loves the world so much and loves this genre and is such a talented storyteller. So if I had a say in this, which I don't, I'd give her whatever she wants."
According to Screen Rant, DuVernay has previously worked behind the scenes on fantasy, science fiction and comic book related films, and was involved in the promotional/publicity services on early 2000 releases such as "Spy Kids," "Spider-Man 2" and "I-Robot." Earlier this year, DuVernay confirmed that she has met with Marvel Studios about directing the upcoming "Black Panther" solo movie but passed on the offer.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is the next installment to George Lucas' long-running space opera that began with 1977's "Star Wars: A New Hope." It is also marks the first film to be released under the Walt Disney company, who bought the rights to the franchise in 2012.
J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will see the return of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa, and introduce John Boyega (Attack The Block) as Finn, Daisy Ridley (Mr. Selfrige) as Rey, Adam Driver (Girls) as Kylo Ren, Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) as Captain Phasma, Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings) as Supreme Leader Snoke, Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year) as Poe Dameron, Domnhall Gleeson (Frank) as General Hux and Lupita Nyong'O (12 Years a Slave) as Maz Kanata.
The movie releases in theaters on Dec. 18.
