Ben Affleck Officially Reveals Why He Rejected Highest-Grossing Star Wars Movie

Before Ben Affleck sat in the director’s chair for his latest Netflix thriller, Animals, the actor & director was offered a chance to direct the highest-grossing Star Wars movie in the franchise. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was released in 2015, went on to earn a whopping $2 billion at the worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo).

11 years after the movie’s release, Affleck finally opened up about turning down the opportunity when he sat for an interview with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Ben Affleck revealed that although Lucasfilm came to him with the proposition of directing Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he wasn’t aware whether the studio was also in talks with director J.J. Abrams to do the same.

Yeah, they came to me and asked me. I don’t know that that meant they weren’t also talking to J.J. or other people.

However, he further stated that he got nervous thinking about the immense responsibility that would fall on his shoulders and backed out of the project. The actor recalled, “I just think someone else who has more passion for this is going to do a better job”.

I don’t know if I can make a great version of Star Wars or reinvent this… I didn’t want to direct something that I don’t feel like I have a chance to be really, really proud of.

Naturally, the project passed to J.J. Abrams, who went on to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Upon its release, the 2015 film became the highest-grossing Star Wars movie in the entire franchise (and still stands strong to this day). Despite the missed opportunity, Ben Affleck doesn’t necessarily regret turning down the project.

Ben Affleck Doesn’t Regret Rejecting The Force Awakens

A still from Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Credits: Lucasfilm

The actor emphasized that it’s not a skill issue on his side. However, the Animals star did say that he was afraid of not giving his full potential to a fan-beloved franchise that has been running for several decades. As the talks continued, Ben Affleck said that there aren’t many movies that he has regretted turning down, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, despite the film’s success, is one of them.

There haven’t been too many movies that I turned down, whether as an actor or a director, that I thought, ‘That was a shame.’ There have been some that have been successful, some very successful, but, particularly as a director, I just think somebody else is better for this.

Aside from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the director was also given various opportunities with The Flash and Batman. However, Affleck refused both of these projects as well for various reasons. Although Affleck feels that movies with a massive fanbase should remain untouched by him, his latest Netflix thriller might just prove his worst fear to be true. Animals, which was released on October 9, has found much love and acclaim from fans; the critics, however… not so much.

Ben Affleck’s Latest Flick Confirms Any Director’s Worst Fear

Ben Affleck and Kerry Washington in Animals (2026) | Image via Netflix

Animals is Ben Affleck’s latest thriller release on Netflix under the banner of Artists Equity, and is part of the deal between the studio and Netflix. The plot follows Affleck as a mayoral candidate and Kerry Washington as his wife, who take desperate steps to raise their son’s ransom. However, their extreme choices expose dark secrets that threaten to ruin them.

Despite an intriguing premise, the film only managed to secure a critics’ score of 32% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were a little gentler with the movie and gave it a rating of 5.7/10 on IMDb (figures are as of October 14, 2026).

However, the film has been finding success by becoming the #1 streaming movie on Netflix when it was released. The same fate could have befallen Star Wars: The Force Awakens had Ben Affleck directed the film. Although Animals is no doubt a bad flick, people are glad that it was an original script and not a sequel to a famous IP.

Would you have seen a Ben Affleck-directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Animals are available to stream on Disney+ and Netflix, respectively.