Mathieu David

A number of things bode well for me about his appointment. He's a long-time Star Wars fan. He's shooting in the UK, where the original trilogy was made. He worships Spielberg, and he has Spielberg's producer guiding him. (She has already said that, like Mark Hamill, she wants the film to use more sets, locations and practical effects than Lucas' green-screen-heavy prequels.) He likes to shoot on film at 24 fps and is resistent to 3D. He's got strong writers working with him on this one. And Fringe is a brilliant show. So I think this will get back to what was great about the original films. Their reputation has been tainted by the bad prequels and two or three decades of braindead rip-offs, but the first trilogy is about one of life's most important subjects for cinema to explore (in my view) - wonder. It celebrates imagination, and in these bleak times, that's needed more than ever. I don't think of wonder as escapism; it's inspiration. It's then up to us what we do with it and how we apply it to our lives and art.