Michael Arndt may script 'Star Wars VII'; J.J. Abrams, Steven Spielberg, Brad Bird eyed to direct

We're starting to get closer to finding out who will take on the most sought after jobs in all of Hollywood, guiding the next of George Lucas' Star Wars trilogies. With Matthew Vaughn and Colin Trevorrow's names already floating out there as potential directors, the latest news has Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt(Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine) having penned a 50-page story treatment to cover the entire trilogy, and may be tasked with banging out the screenplay.

Arndt apparently wrote the treatment months ago, long before the Disney/LucasFilm deal happened, so this clearly puts him in the pole position to script the whole thing. Obviously, the Disney folks are quite familiar with Arndt as he's part of Pixar's elite "brain trust", and has a couple of projects already in the pipeline for the Mouse House. He also wrote the script for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which along with the the excellent Toy Story 3 gives him more major franchise experience than most. He also happens to be a Star Wars expert, lecturing frequently about creative storytelling and frequently talks about how satisfying the ending of Episode IV is.

As if the thought of nailing a screenwriter as well-regarded as Arndt isn't big enough, the treatment is expected to be shown to Brad Bird, J.J. Abrams, and Steven Spielberg, with hopes that one of them will want to direct it. The chances of that happening are slim, but Disney wants to cover all of the bases. I think Bird may be more open to the idea than many other sites want to admit, but we'll just see how that shakes out.

And hey, at least we know one guy who wants nothing to do with Star Wars....

Zack Snyder: “I don’t think I’d be interested in [directing it]. I’m a huge ‘Star Wars’ fanatic. I just think doing [episodes] seven, eight and nine is just a slippery slope. It’s a whole other mythological experiment I’m excited to see, but it’s a lot of effort.”

It was like millions of people suddenly just sighed a deep breath of relief, and were suddenly contented. [Vulture/Deadline/HeroComplex]