Since the news broke a month ago that Disney had purchased Lucasfilm for $4 billion and was developing Star Wars: Episode VII for a 2015 release, British filmmaker Matthew Vaughn has been, despite constant denials, one of the frontrunners for the highly-coveted directing gig. At the recent London premiere of Seven Psychopaths actor Jason Flemyng, a close friend and collaborator of Vaughn’s since the director was producing Guy Ritchie’s quotable gangster pictures, let something very interesting slip during an interview with DIY TV, according to their Twitter feed:

Okay, they said “Star Wars IV”. That could be a modest little joke on Flemyng’s part or maybe the interviewer misinterpreted something her said. Obviously a remake of A New Hope is not even on any sane person’s mind and never will be. In any case, DIY TV later took to their Twitter to correct their previous snafu.

Oops, indeed.

Now this naturally will not be confirmed until Lucasfilm and Disney make the official announcement some time soon. They’ve already signed writers Michael Arndt, Lawrence Kasdan, and Simon Kinberg to pen Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, so it’s only a matter of time before they sign a director. Vaughn has been positioning himself for the top spot in the rumor mill for months now: first he declined returning for directing duties on Kick-Ass 2, instead leaving the position to Jeff Wadlow; then he departed the production of X-Men: Days of Future Past, the follow-up to his X-Men: First Class, opening the door for Bryan Singer to return to the lucrative franchise in which he played a huge role behind the scenes. Then again we could all be wrong and tomorrow we will get the mind-blowing announcement that a director we never would have suspected in a million years has secured the assignment. Anything can happen folks. We are taking our first steps back into a larger world.

But if you want solid confirmation that Vaughn is directing Episode VII look no further to that shining beacon of truth known as Mark Millar: according to Millar, Vaughn’s next project is an adaptation of their comic book series The Secret Service. Since 65% of what comes out of Millar’s mouth tends to be something akin to what infants fill up their diapers with, I guess we can safely say that Matthew Vaughn is George Lucas’ heir apparent. But if I am wrong, feel free to blame my source.

[Source: Geek Tyrant]