J.J. Abrams Didn’t Love The Original Star Wars
When Star Trek Into Darkness had been in U.S. theaters for about a month, director J.J. Abrams was making the transition from Star Trek to Star Wars. Production on Star Wars: Episode VII began in early 2014 in London, England. Abrams packed his bags and moved his family across the Atlantic for the movie.
As Variety reported at the time, during the Producers Guild of America conference, J.J. Abrams spoke briefly about the forthcoming Star Wars sequel.
As casting began on the seventh installment of the Star Wars film franchise, there were still some big questions about the new film’s narrative and cast of characters.
When asked about how he would handle Star Wars‘ deep and rich mythology, J.J. Abrams answered, “I think that the thing is so big and so massive to so many people that the key to moving forward is honoring but not revering what went before.”
It seemed at the time that J.J. Abrams would do the same thing to Star Wars as he did to Star Trek. In 2009, when Abrams’ first Star Trek film was released, it was a genuine surprise that the director incorporated so much Star Trek mythology while at the same time delivering a movie that was fresh and exciting for general audiences and Star Trek fans alike.
There was hope J.J. Abrams could re-create that spirit again with Star Wars: Episode VII.
It was interesting to think about what the central story for the new Star Wars sequel trilogy might be. Back in 1997, when George Lucas announced that there would be a new Star Wars trilogy, we knew it was going to be prequels and would focus on how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader.
With Darth Vader out of the picture, would Star Wars: Episode VII focus on a new clan of Skywalkers and Solos? It wasn’t crystal clear at the time.
In the end, though J.J. Abrams said he didn’t totally revere what had come before in the Star Wars universe, it was obvious he at least paid homage to what came before, keeping it relatively central to at least the beginning story.
The Star Wars timeline could have skipped way far ahead and removed the Skywalker timeline from the mix. But they opted to begin by bringing back Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher in the Han Solo and Princess Leia characters to start. There were other nods as well.
But they also worked to carve out a new story, one with new characters Star Wars folks could find investment. Was it perfect? No. But there was clearly an effort to thread the franchise needle.
