The blockbuster auteur, who is set to receive the Visionary Award at our 2024 event, tells IndieWire why he sees science fiction as a vessel for hope.

If there’s one thing that director Denis Villeneuve has proven, it’s that he is capable of pulling off large-scale sci-fi films better than almost any other working filmmaker. He first demonstrated that when he dipped his toes into the sci-fi genre with 2016’s Arrival and did so again a year later when he helmed Blade Runner 2049.

Denis Villeneuve has revealed why he would never write or direct a Star Wars film. In a podcast appearance, the celebrated filmmaker explained that he believes the franchise got derailed in 1983 with the Richard Marquand-directed Return of the Jedi.

While on The Town podcast, Villeneuve shared that Star Wars blew it after two films, with 1983’s Return of the Jedi, which most fans consider a bit of a step down from 1977’s A New Hope and 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back.

Yes, the "Dune" director hated Ewoks that much. "It became like a recipe, and there were no more surprises," he says.

Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve was born in 1967; his filmography also includes plenty of forays into the futuristic and extraterrestrial. (Plus whatever you’d like to classify Enemy as.) Knowing his age and penchant for ambitious science fiction,