Every director and actor has “the one that got away” when it comes to films that they could have been part of, and legendary director David Cronenberg is no exception. Having come close to directing Star Wars sequel Return of the Jedi, Cronenberg recently opened up about deciding not to work on another iconic movie of the 1980s: Top Gun. With Top Gun: Maverick about to finally hit cinemas, it seems like a timely moment for the director of such classics as The Fly and Crash to discuss his missed opportunity while discussing his new movie, Crimes of the Future, with Variety.

It is hard for anyone with a career as long and prolific as Cronenberg to have too many regrets, and while some would think missing out on being part of such a big movie as Top Gun could be one of them, the director really doesn’t see it that way at all. Talking on the subject, Cronenberg said:

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

While that may be the case for Top Gun, even though he was offered the chance to direct Return of the Jedi, the decision was ultimately taken out of his hands by an admission that he didn’t do other people’s movies. He explained:

“Top Gun was about American military stuff. It’s true that I like machines, I like cars, I like airplanes. But it just wasn’t something I was interested in to direct. Directing takes at least two years of your life. If you watch it, it takes two hours. So that’s the difference.”

“I do love science fiction and graphic novels. But as a director it’s different. The Star Wars story. This is a long time, long ago. I’m in my house in Toronto. The phone rings. I’m in my kitchen. The guy says, ‘I’m from Lucasfilm. Are you David Cronenberg?’ I say, ‘yes.’ He says, ‘George Lucas is wondering if you would be interested in directing the next episode of Star Wars’ … And I said, well, I don’t usually do other people’s material at that point. I only did movies that I wrote. So immediately he hung up on me.”

David Cronenberg’s Crimes of The Future Will See Audiences Walk Out of Screenings

     MiramaxMK2/Mile End

David Cronenberg is not known for his subtle and gentile movies, and his latest offering Crimes of the Future looks set to sit amongst movies like Videodrome as one of his most memorable body horror movies. For that reason, the director fully expects to see some people walk out of the film as it hits Cannes this month. In a previous interview with Deadline, Cronenberg commented:

Crimes of The Future goes on general release on June 10, 2022.

“There are some very strong scenes. I mean, I’m sure that we will have walkouts within the first five minutes of the movie. I’m sure of that. Some people who have seen the film have said that they think the last 20 minutes will be very hard on people, and that there’ll be a lot of walkouts. Some guy said that he almost had a panic attack. And I say, “Well, that would be OK.” But I’m not convinced that that will be a general reaction. I do expect walkouts in Cannes, and that’s a very special thing. [Laughs]”