If you’re a professional screenwriter, it would make sense if a long-term goal is to pen the script for a “Star Wars” film. Sure, that sort of project normally has numerous writers involved, as well as a ton of studio interference, but when you’re offered the chance to tackle an iconic franchise and earn a decent paycheck in the process, that’s a hard gig to turn down. Well, it would be difficult if you’re not Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.
The screenwriting duo, best known for their work on the script for the breakout 2018 film “A Quiet Place,” recently spoke to MovieWeb and explained that they were given the chance to talk to Lucasfilm about a couple of major franchises, including “Star Wars,” but instead turned down the opportunity to focus on something new.
“We went into Lucasfilm in the wake of ‘A Quiet Place’ and they wanted to talk to us about ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Star Wars,’ said Woods. “And we’re like, ‘We wanna talk to you about, what is ‘Star Wars’ before it was ‘Star Wars?’’ You guys have a responsibility to start a new franchise. That’s where our hearts have always been, just trying to create original ideas.”
Beck added, “Without giving away too much… it was simply ruminating on if we did an ‘Indiana Jones’ movie, what would we want to see in ‘Indiana Jones?’ Or if we did a ‘Star Wars’ movie, what’s that chapter of the whole universe that we would want to see? So it very much was an open canvas talk. It started going down the line a little bit but, again, as Bryan said, it’s just not our DNA. We would rather create what the next ‘Indiana Jones’ could be.”
Well, we’ll never know what Beck and Woods would have come up with if given the keys to one of Lucasfilm’s insanely popular franchises. Instead, the ‘Quiet Place’ writing duo stepped behind the camera to perform double-duty on their next film, “Haunt.” Instead of just writing the script, Beck and Woods are directing the new horror film.
“Haunt” is set to arrive on September 13. The duo isn’t involved in the script for the upcoming “A Quiet Place 2,” which arrives March 20, 2020.