Star Wars: More Details on Zack Snyder's Reputed Meeting With Lucasfilm

The site that broke the news this morning that Zack Snyder is developing a Star Wars film set outside of the forthcoming sequel trilogy has doubled down on their claim, essentially implying that a denial issued by representatives for the Man of Steel director is a political move designed to put Warner Brothers at ease. The site has amended their original report, linked above, to include the following statement in response to the comments given The Hollywood Reporter by Snyder's people:

Vulture takes the accuracy of its reports very seriously. And while a piece published in The Hollywood Reporter this evening quotes Snyder's rep as saying that the director "is not involved in any way with the new Star Wars," Vulture stands by its story. This reporter heard through a source very familiar with the situation that Snyder recently flew up to Marin County to meet with Lucasfilm execs about the project. When subsequently reached by Vulture, Snyder's spokesperson would only repeat that he "is" not currently involved. One should note the possible political ramifications here of our original story break: Snyder's last Warner Bros. film, Sucker Punch, lost millions for the studio, and execs there could have become distressed at the idea of him getting involved with another studio's franchise when they have so much at stake with their upcoming Man of Steel and want him available for an immediate sequel.

Lest this be painted as a tiff between Vulture and The Hollywood Reporter to see whose "exclusive" carries more water, though, Variety entered the fray this evening with a tweet from Jeff Sneider that, essentially, confirmed Vulture's side of the story. "No clue how REAL the Zack Snyder - Star Wars offshoot rumors are but I GUARANTEE he met with Kathy Kennedy to pitch her that Seven Jedi idea," tweeted Sneider. Kennedy is George Lucas's heir apparent and would most likely be the gatekeeper one would have to work with to gain an audience with Disney about Star Wars-related projects. For Snyder's part, he's remained true to the 300 franchise, another big winner for Legendary Pictures, which is producing and distributing Man of Steel with Warner Bros. Whether that makes it more likely that he would commit to Man of Steel sequels even in spite of having a more lucrative offer from Disney (if one were to materialize) is anyone's guess, but it's been widely assumed up to this point that Snyder would remain on board for at least one sequel. After all, Snyder is more Christopher Nolan or Marc Webb than Jon Favreau; you go after a guy like that becuase you want a certain visual style, and it could make for a demonstrably different film if you have to shift gears after the first movie.