J.J. Abrams Talks Working With Rian Johnson To Pave The Way For STAR WARS Episode VIII
The Force Awakens hits theatres in just over a month, and Rian Johnson's Episode VIII follows not too long after. In his interview with Wired, J.J. Abrams opened up about collaborating with the Looper director to ensure a smooth transition between the two movies...
By Minty -
Nov 09, 2015 11:11 AM EST
Source: Wired
Earlier today, we received a fantastic batch of BTS stills for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, courtesy of Wired. The site also conducted a fascinating, in-depth interview with director J.J. Abrams, who delved into his thought process and experience directing the movie. The whole piece is a great read, but one of the most interesting tidbits he dropped was about how he and incoming Episode VIII director Rian Johnson worked together to create a smooth transition between the two movies.
"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. They were watching dailies when we were shooting our movie. We wanted them to be part of the process, to make the transition to their film as seamless as possible. I showed Rian an early cut of the movie, because I knew he was doing his rewrite and prepping. And as executive producer of VIII, I need that movie to be really good. Withholding serves no one and certainly not the fans. So we’ve been as transparent as possible."
"Rian has asked for a couple of things here & there that he needs for his story. He's an incredibly accomplished filmmaker & an incredibly strong writer. So the story he told took what we were doing and went in the direction that he felt was best but that is very much in line with what we were thinking as well. But that will be his movie; he’s going to do it in the way he sees fit. He’s neither asking for nor does he need me to oversee the process."
This news shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but the thought of two filmmakers as talented as Johnson and Abrams collaborating to forge a new direction for the Star Wars universe makes me positively giddy. Both directors will undoubtedly put their own unique spin on the beloved franchise, but it's nice to hear they're also working together to maintain continuity between episodes too. Whose vision are you more excited about seeing? Sound off below!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theatres in just over a month's time on December 18th, while Johnson's Episode VIII is set to premiere May 26th, 2017.