“The Creator didn’t do so well,” director Gareth Edwards concedes, but adds that the “studio is proud of the film”, meaning he gets to make another.
The Creator was one of our absolute favourite genre films of 2023. Made on a comparatively lean budget of $80m, it was a sci-fi action film with terrific production design, sparky performances, and some ambitious ideas on its mind.
Unfortunately, Gareth Edwards’ film didn’t perform spectacularly at the box office – it took in about $104m worldwide – though there’s every chance it’ll be more widely discovered now that it’s out on disc and streaming services.
In an interview with French magazine Technikart – which also did a fascinating piece about the doomed Jake Gyllenhaal survival drama, Suddenly – Edwards was quite candid about The Creator’s financial performance. But with that admission came some happier news: its studio, Arnon Milchan’s Regency Enterprises, was so impressed with the film that it’s letting him make another.
“The Creator didn’t do so well, and I’m not going to buy a yacht, or even a car,” Edwards said. “But the studio is proud of the film, of its look, so I will be able to make another one.”
The film was, of course, Edwards’ first film in several years, following the somewhat bruising experience of making 2014’s Godzilla for Sony and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story for Lucasfilm in 2016. In his chat with Technikart, Edwards reiterated the frustration he felt when making those movies, adding that Hollywood blockbusters have a tendency to be so focused on special effects that they move into production without getting the script nailed down first.
“The filming of most of the big blockbusters begins while the scripts are not finalised,” Edwards said; “this happened to me for my two big films.”
When asked whether he’d ever make a Star Wars film again, Edwards replied, “If they call me, why not? But I already won the jackpot – I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for me to play again. I have to concentrate on personal and original projects.”
At present, we don’t know what Edwards’ next film will be. He’s already ruled out the possibility of making a direct sequel to The Creator, so we can cross that off the list.
One script he’s had in production for years is something called Forever, about a “young human child and a robot who travel across the galaxy in search of mankind’s origin.” It’s a project Edwards had in the works with producer Timur Bekmambetov after he made Monsters in 2010. Maybe it’s one he’ll ultimately make with Regency, in the same guerrilla style as The Creator.
We’ll bring you more on all this as we hear it.
