Zack Snyder Says Star Wars: The Force Awakens Has More Collateral Damage Than Man Of Steel

When powerful alien races go to war, things get broken.

That's the message from Man of Steel director Zack Snyder, whose 2013 film has undergone more or less constant criticism for his handling of the third act -- and who says Star Wars: The Force Awakens actually had more collateral damage than did Man of Steel.

I suppose it's difficult to argue that a planet -- or at least a planet-sized weapon which housed a lot of people forestry and the like -- wasn't destroyed in the course of the film. There were also the empire's attacks on a couple of different planets that left inhabited areas in ruins.

And, yes, that's actually what Snyder was talking about. Here's the pertinent bit from a Wall Street Journal story:

Snyder was mystified when someone told him that they couldn't think of a movie in recent memory that's had as much collateral damage as "Man of Steel." "I went, really? And I said, well, what about ['Star Wars: The Force Awakens']?" the director says. "In 'Star Wars' they destroy five planets with billions of people on them. That's gotta be one of the highest death toll movies in history, the new 'Star Wars' movie, if you just do the math."

So, in other words, he wasn't complaining about the death toll in Star Wars, merely reacting to somebody's claim that Man of Steel's own was unprecedented.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters December 18, 2015, kicking off a new trilogy of Saga films as Episodes VIII and IX are already scheduled. The film garnered a record $247 million at the domestic box office and $529 million globally in its opening weekend.