The only movies Steven Spielberg wanted to direct but couldn’t: “I would have jumped at the chance”
If Steven Spielberg wants to direct a movie, then he’s going to direct it, mostly because he’s Steven Spielberg, and there aren’t many people in Hollywood brave enough to tell him no.
However, there always tends to be an exception to even the most ironclad of rules, and the only filmmaker in history to helm the highest-grossing movie of all time on three separate occasions isn’t immune from rejection.
Spielberg twice floated himself as a potential James Bond director to Cubby Broccoli and was shut down on both occasions. It worked out well in the long run, though, when his desire to create something at least spiritually similar to 007’s globetrotting adventures gave rise to Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Indiana Jones franchise.
He also politely declined an offer to take over from close friend George Lucas to take over as the director of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace after cinema’s most famous plaid enthusiast hesitated about stepping behind the camera after so long and sought out Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Robert Zemeckis as potential replacements.
The three-time Academy Award winner wanted to direct Bond but wasn’t allowed, and was wanted to direct Star Wars but wasn’t interested. Right in the middle ground are two movies that he would have loved to direct if it wasn’t for his own misgivings, which is perfectly understandable when the infamously nightmarish production of Jaws left him with PTSD.
“Yeah, of course,” Spielberg admitted to Ain’t It Cool when asked if he wished he’d helmed Jaws 2. “Of course. And Jaws 3. I was done; I was done with the ocean. I would have done the sequel if I hadn’t had such a horrible time at sea on the first film. I would have absolutely jumped at the chance to own the sequel because I knew that when I was walking away from the sequel, I was walking away from a huge piece of my life that I had helped to create.”
When it permanently shifted the industry’s landscape, shattered box office records, and ushered in the blockbuster era, it was inevitable that Universal would be clamouring for a follow-up. Spielberg was keen, but the horrific experience of making the first one meant he couldn’t bring himself to sign on to see if the lightning would strike twice, no matter how much he wanted to.
“I just could not imagine going back out to the ocean and sitting in a boat for nine months,” he admitted. “I just couldn’t imagine it.” In reality, Jaws never should have been a franchise. Any follow-ups, regardless of whether Spielberg directed them or not, didn’t stand a chance of replicating the inimitable magic of the original.
If anything, he dodged a bullet, especially when he made Close Encounters of the Third Kind and landed his first Oscar nomination for ‘Best Director’ instead of making Jaws 2.
