Guillermo Del Toro turns down Star Wars VII

Guillermo Del Toro has turned down the job of directing 'Star Wars: Episode VII'.

The man behind films like 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'Hellboy' - the forthcoming 'Pacific Rim' - has confirmed that he was asked to direct the first forthcoming sequel, but scheduling ruled him out.

[Related story: JJ Abrams turned down Star Wars VII]

“We got one phone call to my agent saying, 'Is Guillermo interested?' And basically I have so much stuff already of my own, and I'm pursuing stuff that I'm generating already,” he told Indiewire.

“It was just a phone call, it didn't go past that, it was very nice to be asked, but believe it or not, I'm busy enough.”

He joins a slowly growing number of directors who can be crossed off the list of possible helmsman for the biggest job in Hollywood.

JJ Abrams has also said that he was also approached for the job.

“There were the very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to ‘Star Trek’, and also just being a fan [of ‘Star Wars’], I wouldn't even want to be involved in the next version of those things,” he told Empire magazine.

“I declined any involvement very early on. I'd rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them.”

'The Incredibles' and 'Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol' director Brad Bird is also no longer in the running to make the first 'Star Wars' sequel, which is being penned by Michael Arndt, the man behind 'Toy Story 3'.

This does leave Matthew Vaughn still possible, however, after it was thought that regular collaborator Jason Flemyng let slip that he had the job.