Ron Howard reveals he was offered to direct The Phantom Menace

Ron Howard is a superb director of popcorn entertainment. Not only has he directed the excellent Rush, Apollo 13, Frost / Nixon and more, but now it turns out that he may once have had the opportunity to direct Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the red-haired filmmaker revealed the incredible offer from George Lucas he had in front of him all those years ago, but ultimately declined, saying: ‘It was an honour, but it would’ve been too daunting.’

You probably don’t like The Phantom Menace that much. Neither do we, and we can’t help feeling almost cheated Howard passed on the chance of a lifetime only for Lucas to step up and make it himself, turning it – and the other two prequels – into iterations of Star Wars that aren’t a shade as good as the original films. Still, we can’t complain: Howard has largely a terrific body of work, and we wouldn’t change it for the world – plus, there’s both a new Ron Howard movie (In the Heart of the Sea) and new Star Wars movie, so there’s that to look forward to.