Exclusive: Sam Raimi In Talks For Star Wars Movie
According to our trusted and proven sources, horror legend Sam Raimi may be up for a Star Wars film after his success in the MCU.
This article is more than 2 years old
Sam Raimi released his first film in nearly a decade with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which predictably become an enormous box office success. With respect to the director of For Love of the Game, that probably has less to do with Raimi’s own audience draw power than the might of the Marvel Cinematic Universe behind him. However, Raimi is one of the most respected and influential genre filmmakers out there, having helped define the modern horror film as we know it. Now that he successfully brought some of that patented horror touch to the MCU, it seems Disney may be willing to put more support behind him. According to our trusted and proven sources, a Sam Raimi Star Wars movie is currently in talks.
This makes sense for a number of reasons. Both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars are two arms of the Disney machine (under Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm respectively), so a success in one probably builds confidence for another. A Sam Raimi Star Wars movie riding on the success of Doctor Strange would follow the same pattern as Jon Favreau successfully starting out in the MCU and then transitioning to help lead Star Wars via The Mandalorian.
It also helps that Sam Raimi was brought into the MCU to add a dose of horror to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness after original director Scott Derrickson bowed out, which paid off handsomely. A Sam Raimi Star Wars film could potentially add that same horror element to a franchise that has been increasingly criticized as having too similar an atmosphere from project to project.
And while critics have been mixed on the merits of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness in terms of characterization and where it may be leading the MCU, Raimi’s direction was widely praised for actually making things scary. If Lucasfilm is looking into introducing more horror, Sam Raimi would be just the guy for Star Wars.
Of course, we have been told that Sam Raimi is in talks for Star Wars, which is not a confirmation. Raimi’s career has swung wildly from his low-budget horror Evil Dead days to oddball genre exercises like The Quick and the Dead to prestige attempts with A Simple Plan to his eventual breakthrough with the Sony Spider-Man trilogy. There is really no predicting what Sam Raimi might be drawn to next, so it could very well be Star Wars.
Sam Raimi making a Star Wars movie is a potentially exciting idea. After years away from the genre, the director effortlessly slipped back into his trademark horror techniques for Doctor Strange without losing his essential uniqueness. That alone makes him something of an anomaly for the MCU, which has long been criticized for sanding off the edges when it comes to directorial vision. However, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm do not always see eye to eye when it comes to these things. But if Sam Raimi is being courted for a Star Wars movie, it may hint that Lucasfilm is looking to inject some new voices and tones into the legendary franchise.
