Gareth Edwards made his return to cinema on September 27, with his fourth feature film: “The Creator”. Start of a new franchise, or story that stands on its own? Response with the director.
Seeing a science fiction film in the cinema has become rare. Originals, even more. Released in theaters on September 27, The Creator falls into both categories, despite visible inspirations.
Seven years after Rogue One, his Star Wars spin-off, Gareth Edwards is back on the big screen, and he plunges us into a war between humans and machines, against a backdrop of artificial intelligence, without denying the influence of George Lucas on his fourth feature film, as he explained to us in an interview.
Enough to follow in the footsteps of his model a little further by bringing his own science fiction saga to life? Not so fast. Asked by The Direct on the possibility of a sequel to The Creator, the director and screenwriter quickly closed the door.
“What I prefer about cinema, compared to television, is that it has an ending”says Gareth Edwards. “My favorite part of a story is the end. I like when we work backwards from the end, that everything leads towards this climax, where there is like a microphone dropping while the credits start to roll, these are my favorite films…”
“I have no intention of doing a second part [à The Creator] or something of the sort. I’m very happy to see this as a unitary, as a story that stands on its own. These are my favorite films.”
My favorite part of a story is the ending
Gareth Edwards is neither the first, nor the last, to express this wishful thinking. And more than one director before him has returned to his comments, to respond to a request from the public. Which also translates to “capitalize on a box office success.”
Unfortunately for The Creator, and despite more than positive feedback, the American public preferred super-puppies (Paw Patrol 2) and very dirty torture (Saw X) for its first weekend of operation.
After a summer marked by the victory of more original films (Barbie and Oppenheimer) over franchises, the box office is returning to paths to which we are more accustomed.
With a production budget amounting to 80 million dollars (excluding marketing costs), The Creator should however be able to do well, failing to be such a success as to give rise to a sequel. But Gareth Edwards won’t totally complain about it.