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J.J. Abrams Star Wars: The Force Awakens Interview

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L

Lifejumper

Member
http://www.wired.com/2015/11/star-wars-force-awakens-jj-abrams-interview/#slide-1

Great interview.

Some great tidbits:

Story deets
More than anything, I drew on personal experiences as cautionary tales, things that I didn’t want to do again. For example, I didn’t want to enter into making a movie where we didn’t really own our story. I feel like I’ve done that a couple of times in my career. That’s not to say I’m not proud of my work, but the fact is I remember starting to shoot Super 8 and Star Trek Into Darkness and feeling like I hadn’t really solved some fundamental story problems.
Click to expand...

Teasing the movie
There’s a really positive side to keeping quiet. You can protect the audience from spoilers or certain moments that, in a way, obviate the movie experience. But on the other hand, you risk being seen as coy or as a withholding shithead. That’s never my intent.
Click to expand...

Episode VIII
The script for VIII is written. I’m sure rewrites are going to be endless, like they always are. But what Larry and I did was set up certain key relationships, certain key questions, conflicts. And we knew where certain things were going. We had meetings with Rian and Ram Bergman, the producer of VIII.
Click to expand...

Working with John Williams
Oh my God! First of all, forget his talent and his achievement. As a person, he’s the guy you want to know more than anyone. He is the sweetest soul I’ve ever met. He’s like this jazzman who became one of the greatest composers of all time. He literally calls you “baby”! Like, “Hey, baby.” He calls me “J.J. Baby.” I waited all my life to meet someone who would call me that!
Click to expand...
 
D

DMczaf

Member
That’s not to say I’m not proud of my work, but the fact is I remember starting to shoot Super 8 and Star Trek Into Darkness and feeling like I hadn’t really solved some fundamental story problems.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see he's gone to the Michael Bay School of Promoting Your Latest Movie
 
M

Mr Cola

Brothas With Attitude / The Wrong Brotha to Fuck Wit / Die Brotha Die / Brothas in Paris
While this wont ever come close to being as redefining as Star Wars, I would be shocked if this film wasnt something quite special, everything has hit for me so far.
 
W

WadiumArcadium

Member
Forkball said:
They should ask him why he's not directing the other two.
Click to expand...

Star Wars works best when there's a variety of people working on it. It's no coincidence Lucasfilm have picked three different directors. JJ was pretty reluctant to do this one at first, so I'm not surprised he's doing just the one film.
 
Red Mage

Red Mage

Member
Forkball said:
They should ask him why he's not directing the other two.
Click to expand...

The Sequels are coming out every two years. The OT and PT were three years apart because it's pretty much impossible for a single person to get two parts of a trilogy out two years apart.
 
R

rezuth

Member
Forkball said:
They should ask him why he's not directing the other two.
Click to expand...

Production on the second is already at work and I imagine him laying the groundwork for the new trilogy and putting all of him into this movie for such a long period of time has been exhausting for him.
 
E

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
I imagine he didn't want to work on 2 Star Wars movies back to back just because it would mean non stop work on the same project for years and years. I can't imagine Disney would have objected to him directing the second one with how well received the movie is right now.
 
M

Maninthemirror

Banned
The reason JJ is not doing episode VIII and IX could be a combination of the fact that he could have contractual obligations for another franchise movie (star trek) to direct and also that Disney wants to go with the Harry Potter route of choosing different directors for different movies.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
There's one story spoiler in there that A.J. just drops in, toward the end of the interview, I think. Noting that the
Falcon changes hands, probably passed on to Finn or Daisy, by the end
. Great interview but I'd rather have not read that.
 
W

WadiumArcadium

Member
Maninthemirror said:
The reason JJ is not doing episode VIII and IX could be a combination of the fact that he could have contractual obligations for another franchise movie (star trek) to direct and also that Disney wants to go with the Harry Potter route of choosing different directors for different movies.
Click to expand...

Surely if he had contractual obligations for Star Trek, he'd be doing Star Trek Beyond instead of Justin Lin.
 
L

liquidtmd

Banned
Forkball said:
They should ask him why he's not directing the other two.
Click to expand...

Working on directing three Star Wars movies back to back, day in day out, for over six years.

Nope, I don't care how much you relish the franchise. Its too much rationally to get one man to do and not see the products suffers. Some may cite examples like Jackson doing the whole of LOTR, which would be fair, but sometimes that can lead to loss of perspective - ala The Hobbit.
 
E

EGM1966

Member
I want this to be good and hearing his comments on some of his films does give me better hope for SW. I do like his direction but too often his scripts are weak and the narrative clearly hasn't been fully worked out.

Into Darkness was particularly bad in this regard.

He can do action and strong compositions but his overall narratives can be a bit a weak and he has shown a tendency to brush overall internal consistency in his previous films.

But... seems he recognized that. He does clearly love the SW franchise so I'm really hoping he's worked and worked on the script until it's at least there with A New Hope and ideally is aiming for Empire level of excellence.
 
dehydratedbabies

dehydratedbabies

Member
He's saying all the right things and showing all the right things. Lovin' it, J.J. baby.

I've only seen Star Trek and Super 8 and I didn't really care for either, but I didn't really care for any of Christopher Nolan's movies before Interstellar blew me away, so I'm hoping this is a similar situation.
 
T

TheDinoman

Member
Forkball said:
They should ask him why he's not directing the other two.
Click to expand...

I've stated this before, but keep in mind the original trilogy wasn't just directed by one guy. Each film had a different director at the helm.

Star Wars: George Lucas
Empire Strikes Back: Irvin Kershner
Return of the Jedi: Richard Marquand

This is the approach they're taking for the sequel trilogy. Really, the only time an entire SW trilogy was directed by one person was when George Lucas did the prequels, and well....yeah. Look how they turned out.
 
T

Triggerhappytel

Member
DMczaf said:
Ah, I see he's gone to the Michael Bay School of Promoting Your Latest Movie
Click to expand...

I hear he's been getting some lessons from Peter Molyneux.

Forkball said:
They should ask him why he's not directing the other two.
Click to expand...

Why? I doubt he's short of work, and doing even just one of these films is probably completely exhausting. And if he does well, I'm sure Disney would have no issue bringing him back for another one in the future, whether it's for Episode X or a spin-off.

GhaleonEB said:
There's one story spoiler in there that A.J. just drops in, toward the end of the interview, I think. Noting that the
Falcon changes hands, probably passed on to Finn or Daisy, by the end
. Great interview but I'd rather have not read that.
Click to expand...

That's because hopefully
Han dies
.
 
B

Blader

Member
GhaleonEB said:
There's one story spoiler in there that A.J. just drops in, toward the end of the interview, I think. Noting that the
Falcon changes hands, probably passed on to Finn or Daisy, by the end
. Great interview but I'd rather have not read that.
Click to expand...

I think he means that the
Falcon has changed hands in between movies. It's part of the discussion on implied backstories and using visual cues (new antenna on the Falcon, C3PO's red arm, etc.) to show that time has passed without getting overly expository about it.
 
D

deleted

Member
Forkball said:
They should ask him why he's not directing the other two.
Click to expand...

My shot in the Dark: Less Freedom than the first one where he is more freely able to set tone and general direction. See: The Star Trek Reboot or The Avengers. The second one seems to be played out a lot more close to the chest and by the rules of the producing firm by staying really close to what worked in the first one.

See Into Darkness and Age of Ultron. If I was a director I would find it exhilarating to set a new trilogy up, but a second one could really grind a lot out of you.
Just my 2 cents of course, maybe I'm not right at all.

I like his movies, his Star Trek movies always felt kinda Star Wars anyway. I'm hyped to no end for 17.12!
 
C

CloudyTuba

Member
Forkball said:
They should ask him why he's not directing the other two.
Click to expand...

He did an interview a while back that I think made it pretty clear, though he didnt directly say it was the reason.

He was already hesitant about directing the first new one for family reasons. He promised them coming off of Into Darkness that he was going to take a directing break to spend time with them, and then this fell into his lap. As passionate about it as he was, he was actually going to turn it down until his wife told him that it was okay and that he should take the opportunity. She knew how important it would be to him.

So I assume that's the reason he's not doing the other two, just this one. He's going to spend time with his family and produce rather than direct, as he was already planning to do.
 
V

ViewtifulJC

Banned
JJ always says all the right things. He's reverential of the Star Wars universe, but knows a movie isn't great just because Han Solo and lightsabers showed up. He knows the importance of having a story that stands on its own for all demographics, beginning middle and end, that at the same time has a sense of history and hints at things to come. He and Arndt and Kasdan worked really hard on nailing the narrative down before going into production, something he's openly critical about with his prior work. He's in a very gifted position, and he and all his collaborators are taking it seriously to make a great space fantasy adventure. Something that's funny, romantic, intense, dramatic, executed with wit and clarity and efficiency.

Forkball said:
They should ask him why he's not directing the other two.
Click to expand...

I think a big reason is just the production schedule. Ep.8 already has a release date a year and a half from now. JJ is still in post-production with Ep.7. There's just no way in hell he could he gone through the entire production process of another giant movie in that time. Or at the very least its highly implausible. Its for the best that they have separate creative heads on each film to give their full attention to. Like JJ said, Rian Johnson has finished the episode 8 script and is already casting/shooting some of it. He had the entire last year to spend in pre-production. That's a luxury JJ couldn't possibly afford since he's doing VII.
 
B

bodyofanamerican

Member
I was never really curious about JJ not directing the other films. I figured he'd be, to use a very broad metaphor, what Joss Whedon was to the MCU. Consulted on story beats, continuing to offer feedback, but not officially involved from a production standpoint.
 
E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
ViewtifulJC said:
JJ always says all the right things. He's reverential of the Star Wars universe, but knows a movie isn't great just because Han Solo and lightsabers showed up. He knows the importance of having a story that stands on its own for all demographics, beginning middle and end, that at the same time has a sense of history and hints at things to come. He and Arndt and Kasdan worked really hard on nailing the narrative down before going into production, something he's openly critical about with his prior work. He's in a very gifted position, and he and all his collaborators are taking it seriously to make a great space fantasy adventure. Something that's funny, romantic, intense, dramatic, executed with wit and clarity and efficiency.
Click to expand...

Disagree.

Abrams did a great job with Star Trek 2009. Then Into Darkness happened and it was utter TRASH. He's 1 for 2 in bringing back a beloved series, so Episode VII could go either way.

I think VII will be fine, but if Abrams is doing Episode VIII then it could really end up as another Into Darkness. (Episode IX is already a write-off since the Jurassic World director can't make a decent film to save his life).
 
M

Mr Cola

Brothas With Attitude / The Wrong Brotha to Fuck Wit / Die Brotha Die / Brothas in Paris
One big boon for JJ aswell was Ford getting injured, Disney allowed a delay for a few months on filming that cost them significantly and allowed JJ and Kasdan to rewrite and poke the script after a few months of filming, he claims this was ironically the best thing that happened to him in the process, albeit slightly morbid.
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
enigmatic_alex44 said:
Disagree.

Abrams did a great job with Star Trek 2009. Then Into Darkness happened and it was utter TRASH. He's 1 for 2 in bringing back a beloved series, so Episode VII could go either way.

I think VII will be fine, but if Abrams is doing Episode VIII then it could really end up as another Into Darkness. (Episode IX is already a write-off since the Jurassic World director can't make a decent film to save his life).
Click to expand...

Abrams isn't doing Episode VIII. Rian Johnson is, and he's a better director than Abrams or Trevorrow (who, by the way, can make a decent film to save his life. Safety Not Guaranteed is great.)
 
Q

Quick

Banned
Never doubted JJ's involvement for a moment. I don't think I can picture anybody else right now who could bring the kind of excitement he's brought into the franchise.

I appreciate the honesty in acknowledging Super 8's and Star Trek Into Darkness' shortcomings. I actually really enjoyed both movies, but there were clearly some issues.

And in the end, the movie just feels like it was made with a lot of heart. It feels so much warmer than the Prequels.
 
T

torre_avenue

Banned
enigmatic_alex44 said:
Disagree.

Abrams did a great job with Star Trek 2009. Then Into Darkness happened and it was utter TRASH. He's 1 for 2 in bringing back a beloved series, so Episode VII could go either way.

I think VII will be fine, but if Abrams is doing Episode VIII then it could really end up as another Into Darkness. (Episode IX is already a write-off since the Jurassic World director can't make a decent film to save his life).
Click to expand...

Rian Johnson is already been confirmed for Episode VIII. And as mediocre as Jurassic World was, the directing was competent, one might even say good. It was the screenplay & story that was godawful, and Treverrow was mainly in charge of that. It's been somewhat confirmed Treverrow wouldn't be writing the script, and that Rian Johnson would be doing a treatment of Ep IX in addition to writing Episode VIII. All Treverrow would be doing is directing with some script rewrites with the Star Wars braintrust looking over his shoulder, hypothetically speaking of course.
 
B

bodyofanamerican

Member
Quick said:
Never doubted JJ's involvement for a moment. I don't think I can picture anybody else right now who could bring the kind of excitement he's brought into the franchise.

I appreciate the honesty in acknowledging Super 8's and Star Trek Into Darkness' shortcomings. I actually really enjoyed both movies, but there were clearly some issues.

And in the end, the movie just feels like it was made with a lot of heart. It feels so much warmer than the Prequels.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm also inclined to blame Kurtzman and Orci (specifically Orci) for Into Darkness' issues, and since that sequel took forever to get going, I think JJ had to go with the script he had vs. the script he wanted.
 
G

-griffy-

Banned
Great interview. A couple of new behind the scenes photos too I believe? And some nice hi-res versions of existing photos and shots from the film.

sw_bts_08.jpg

sw_bts_01.jpg

sw_bts_07.jpg

sw_bts_03.jpg

sw_bts_05.jpg

sw_jj_still1.jpg

sw_jj_fullwidth_02.png

sw_jj_fullwidth_03.png

sw_jj_fullwidth_04.png
Click to expand...
 
M

Mr Cola

Brothas With Attitude / The Wrong Brotha to Fuck Wit / Die Brotha Die / Brothas in Paris
Genuinely cant wait for the behind the scenes stuff
 
N

NumberTwo

Paper or plastic?
John Williams is legend. Legend. I'll take is sweeping orchestral scores over the myriad of Zimmer imitators any day. Hands down my favorite composer.
 
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