JJ Abrams, Star Wars, And Chapter VIII

JJ Abrams has to have a lot of pressure on him right now.  In three days, the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens happens, and his three year journey to complete the film will finally be over.  But this isn't just one movie that he'll be responsible for, it's the beginning of a new trilogy.  Even though he won't be directing the next installment, that honor goes to Rian Johnson, he not only needed to create a stand-alone film for a new generation of fans and old fans as well, he needed to create a beginning of a much bigger story, one that would cross over three movies.  Was this thought weighing on him while he was writing the film's script with Lawrence Kasdan, or was he just wanting to make a movie that he wanted to see after the disappointment of the prequels?  Here's what Abrams had to say in a recent interview:

 

“We don’t write a treatment but there are countless times we came up with something and said ‘Oh, this would be so great for Episode VIII!” or “Thats what we could get to in IX!’ It was just that kind of forward moving story. But we knew this had to neither be a backwards moving nostalgic trip only nor a beginning of a movie without a satisfying conclusion, and that was part of the balancing act — embracing what we have inherited and using that where and whenever possible to tell a story that hasn’t been seen yet. We also knew that certain things were inevitable in our minds but that didn’t mean it would be inevitable for whoever came in next.

When Rian who I admire enormously and adore, came on board, we met and talked with him about all the things we were working on and playing with, and he as a spectacular writer and director has taken those things and has written an AMAZING script that I think will be an incredible next chapter, some of which incorporating things we were thinking of and other things are things we could never of dreamed of.”

 

Even with all of this pressure on him to get this next installment right, Abrams had one big-league Hollywood director in his corner, even before he accepted the gig...Steven Spielberg. When Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy at down to discuss how to go forward with restarting the Star Wars movie franchise, it was Spielberg that told her that there was only one person that could do it, and that was JJ Abrams. Abrams had originally turned the offer to direct the film down, but as he and Kennedy sat down one afternoon, they began talking about where the new movie should go, and they began brain-storming ideas off of one another, and by the time their meeting was over, Abrams knew that he wanted to take the job after all. It was much too exciting to pass up!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens this Friday in theaters everywhere...and I mean everywhere! I actually think some multiplexes won't be showing anything but this movie in their theaters for the next month!