Star Wars Episode 7: Ron Howard New Frontrunner for Director?

As more filmmakers declare themselves out of the running to direct "Star Wars: Episode VII," the pool of potential job candidates gets smaller and smaller every day. With the likes of Joss Whedon, Rian Johnson, and Zach Snyder recently more or less confirming they won't be involved, a name some whispered reverently early on reemerges today as a possible front-runner for the position: Ron Howard.

While Disney has already tapped Oscar-winning "Toy Story 3" screenwriter Michael Arndt to pen the screenplay for "Episode: VII," the studio still hasn't made any official comment on a director. Howard's name was mentioned in some early speculation, but most seem to have counted him out as a serious contender for the job. As comicbook.com notes, though, there's plenty of evidence to suggest Howard isn't out of the running to direct "Episode VII" just yet.

Series creator George Lucas has apparently had Howard on his short list of directors for new "Star Wars" films for over two decades. As comicbook.com reported, in the No. 6 issue of the Lucasfilm Fan Club magazine from 1989, when Lucas was questioned about his interest in directing future films in the series, he mentioned Howard immediately.

"I doubt that I would do it," Lucas said of directing any new films. "The kind of films I'm interested in directing are not that kind. I would be looking for somebody like Ron Howard or Steven Speilberg, who are just extremely good directors, to do any future 'Star Wars' movies."

Of course, the interview took place in the golden era before the dawn of the prequel "Star Wars" films, and much has occurred since, but it's still an interesting new thread to the "Episode VII" director saga. And it's made even more interesting considering Howard was reportedly meeting with Disney executives less than a week after the company announced its purchase of Lucasfilm.

"I had fun meeting on the #Disney lot today. Vote tomorrow please pic.twitter.com/Ezr1hwjx," Howard tweeted Nov. 5.

"Classic photo in the lobby of the executive building on #Disney lot. + Please Vote tomorrow pic.twitter.com/k3fy7ndC," he also tweeted.

Howard doesn't appear to have much on his plate in the future aside from "Rush," which is currently in post-production; could he still be on the studio's short list of frontrunners to helm "Episode VII"

Numerous directing candidates have been thrown around in connection to "Episode VII." The names of Pixar's Brad Bird, Guillermo Del Toro, David Fincher, "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams, "Tron Legacy" director Joseph Kosinski, "Safety Not Guaranteed" director Colin Trevorrow, and "Watchmen" filmmaker Zach Synder have all been tossed around recently, with all those directors confirming they won't be signing on to the project for various reasons.

With Whedon and Johnson also now more or less out the running, it looks like Howard and Matthew Vaughn may be among the top directors still being considered for the project. Collider is reporting that "Kick-Ass" director Matthew Vaughn is in talks with Lucasfilm to helm "Star Wars: Episode VII."

"My sources tell me this is the main reason he dropped out of the 'X-Men' sequel," reported Collider.

The site notes if Vaughn is being lined up by Disney to helm the film, it's likely a similar contract to the agreement director Marc Web signed while directing the newest, "Spider Man." Most likely a film-by-film basis, "with the assumption that if the first film is a success and he wants to come back, he could," said Collider.

The director's longtime collaborator Jason Flemyng also indicated in an interview with the Huffington Post that Vaughn may in fact be among the directors Disney is still considering for "Episode VII."

"Me and Matt have done nine films together, so I'm sure I'll get the call for 'Star Wars," he said.

When asked of Vaughn's interest in helming the film, Flemyng added: "I think that's -- he's interested, yeah."

Vaughn has also directed "Stardust," "Layer Cake," and "X-Men: First Class."

Speaking in a radio interview with ABC News, film producer Kathleen Kennedy said pre-production for "Episode VII" would begin in spring 2013, and seemed to hint that Disney would announce the director for "Episode VII" in January.

"I have no immediate update, but hopefully in January I'll have something that I can say," Kennedy told ABC News Radio.

"Star Wars: Episode VII" hits theaters in 2015.