Colin Trevorrow November 18, Twitter The up-and-coming director of Safety Not Guaranteed, an indie time-travel movie, was said (by a “source”) to be in the running after meeting George Lucas. But not so, according to the man himself! He said on Twitter that, “To clarify, there is another film we all love that I’m currently trying not to mess up. Odds I will direct Episode VII: 3720 to 1.” Let the furious speculation about what that other film might be begin!”		Brad Bird November 16, Twitter Sorry, makers of THIS VIDEO but Brad Bird had ruled himself out of Star Wars, as predicted, on the basis that he’s already making a sci-fi movie. In a series of tweets, he said his next project would be, “A science fiction film. Not Star Wars. It's not Episode VII. I'm not slamming Star Wars. I'm just doing "1952"! Sheesh! Michael Arndt is a fantastic writer and Kathy Kennedy is a brilliant producer. I will be first in line to see the new Star Wars.”		Mike Newell November 14, Empire webchat A reader asked the Great Expectations director if he fancied the job. “Yes I do, but I’m not going to get it!”		Sam Mendes November 1, Apple Store Q&A, London Are you on the list? "No." Do you want to be? "No."		Gareth Evans November 1, Twitter "I think I'm better suited as a rabid fan watching rather than making them."
Zack Snyder November 8, LA Times "I don't think I'd be interested in [directing it]. I'm a huge 'Star Wars' fanatic. I just think doing [episodes] seven, eight and nine is just a slippery slope."		Quentin Tarantino November 8, EW "I could so care less. No, sorry. Especially if Disney's going to do it. I'm not interested in the Simon West version of Star Wars."		Steven Spielberg November 9, Access Hollywood "No! No! It's not my genre. It's my best friend George's genre."		JJ Abrams November 9, Hollywood Life “I am looking forward more than anyone to the next iterations of Star Wars, but I believe I will be going as a paying moviegoer!”

TIPPED FOR THE JOB

NEW UPDATE Jon Favreau November 30, Deadline Deadline claimed on November 30 that Favreau is "panting after" this job, despite the fact that the man himself was quoted on November 9, Hollywood Life saying, “I have been very happy and lucky to just experience the culture that Lucas has created. He is just a really wonderful, talented gifted guy who has changed the business so much, so I am just giddy, first and foremost as a fan, to see what happens with it."

Joe Johnston November 12, Huffington Post Asked about Star Wars, Johnston said, “Without George Lucas and "Star Wars," I might have been responsible for some very exciting bus seats, but I would not be making films.” So would he direct Episode VII? “A lot would depend on what 'it' is. I am very glad to see Lucasfilm cranking up to get productive again, regardless of who ends up doing it."

Matthew Vaughn No official word. He’s free, since dropping out of X-Men: Days Of Future Past, and rumours have been swirling thanks to a Collider report naming “sources”.

Guillermo Del Toro November 12, Fanhattan The Pacific Rim director told Fanhattan that, “I haven’t approached them, they haven’t formally approached me. If this becomes ever a reality, and there’s an approach to do it, I would then think about it, but — it’s like thinking if I want to date a supermodel.

WILDCARDS

NEW UPDATE David Fincher November 30, Deadline The same Deadline piece that discussed Favreau (above) also claimed that David Fincher, having worked in a tiny role at ILM as a teen, might be "game for" one of these films. Chalk this all up very much as rumours of speculation, but your mouth is probably already watering anyway.		Justin Lin November 12 The Fast Five director spoke to Empire recently and said, “I think if you ever get the privilege of being asked, you should definitely take that meeting. It’s interesting even as a filmgoer to see who they would pick, because it’s so rich a world. The person has to have a strong point of view going in. It could rock." So colour him interested.		Duncan Jones No word. He made Moon, an excellent sci-fi movie, and continued to show his love for the genre in Source Code. But there has been nothing yet to suggest that he’s up for this, and he’s currently beavering away on a planned Ian Fleming biopic.		Joe Kosinski No word. He worked with screenwriter Michael Arndt on his upcoming sci-fi movie Oblivion, is in Disney’s good books and knows his way around a great-looking sci-fi movie.		Dave Filoni No word. He’s not exactly a household name, but Filoni is the last man to direct a Star Wars movie, having brought us The Clone Wars film in 2008. As such, he’s very much in Lucas’ camp and might be in the running.
Andrew Stanton Don’t hold your breath. Stanton’s a sci-fi lover, a fan favourite and a helluva director, but chances of him trying a sci-fi film at Disney so soon after John Carter’s box-office bath? Slim to none, we’d say. Also, he’s probably started work on Finding Nemo 2 by now.		Joss Whedon Don’t hold your breath. Get real, people! He’s got Avengers 2 due in 2015 and there is no possible way to do both. We don’t see Whedon abandoning Marvel to take the reins – at least on Episode VII. Keep dreaming for the sequels.		Christopher Nolan Hahaha. For it is written: wheresoever geeks may gather, someone will bring up Christopher Nolan’s name and suggest that he should direct everything. In this case, however, it seems wildly unlikely.		David Yates No word. The Harry Potter director managed four wizard films in a row, a pace that would have killed a lesser man, and did them proud. He would be a good catch for any sensible franchise – but he may be about to get Tarzan underway at Warners.		Josh Trank No word. His name has been bandied about, but Josh Trank is currently set to reboot the Fantastic Four over at Fox – where he made his breakthrough hit, Chronicle – so he would seem to be out of the running.
Wes Anderson Not never ever. While we’d be fascinated to see a Wes Anderson Star Wars movie – and on the basis of this Conan O’Brien skit, it’d be awesome, we think it’s about as likely as seeing extensive use of Comic-Sans in an Anderson film.		Mark Andrews Empire podcast interview, November 6 Andrews claimed that he’d be happy to direct Episodes VII, VIII, IX and X while also directing his next Pixar movie with the other hand. We suspect he may have been joking.