When David Cronenberg was asked to direct ‘Top Gun’
David Cronenberg is a true master of the cinematic medium, known for his iconic body horror experiments, which have become an indispensable part of popular culture. Working within the vast frameworks of sci-fi and horror, Cronenberg has explored many powerful subjects such as post-humanism and technology, among others.
After a long hiatus from the genre, Cronenberg returned to the world of body horror this year with a brand new film that premiered at Cannes. Titled Crimes of the Future, it imagines a stage in human evolution where our bodies facilitate the spontaneous growth of new organs, but repressive government authorities are fearful of evolutionary possibilities.
Cronenberg has solidified his reputation in the industry as a pioneer of horror cinema. That’s exactly why it’s surprising to know that the director was presented with the opportunity to helm the popular 1986 film Top Gun whose sequel – Top Gun: Maverick – recently broke all kinds of records at the global box office.
While talking about the offer in an interview, Cronenberg recalled: “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.”
A Cronenberg-directed Top Gun would definitely be a fascinating cinematic experience since the director has always been obsessed with the union of human bodies and machines. However, Cronenberg has no regrets about passing on the chance to direct Top Gun since his illustrious filmography speaks for itself.
Not just Top Gun, Cronenberg was also approached by a Lucasfilm representative to see if he would direct Star Wars. At the time, George Lucas was exploring various possibilities, and he had also spoken to David Lynch about directing a Star Wars movie. Unfortunately, none of those plans came to fruition.
“This is a long time, long ago,” Cronenberg recalled. “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.”
