Did you know there’s a new Star Wars film coming out? Yes, we were shocked too. But it’s true – something called Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives next month. And here’s young unknown director J.J. Abrams talking more about his trip into the Star Wars universe.
Asked by Wired what his aim was in terms of the story, Abrams reaches back to the history of the galaxy far, far away. “We wanted to tell a story that had its own self-contained beginning, middle, and end but at the same time, like A New Hope, implied a history that preceded it and also hinted at a future to follow,” he says. “When Star Wars first came out, it was a film that both allowed the audience to understand a new story but also to infer all sorts of exciting things that might be. In that first movie, Luke wasn’t necessarily the son of Vader, he wasn’t necessarily the brother of Leia, but it was all possible.”
And he knows that all that built up storytelling means for his film. “The Force Awakens has this incredible advantage, not just of a passionate fan base but also of a backstory that is familiar to a lot of people,” he admits. “We’ve been able to use what came before in a very organic way, because we didn’t have to reboot anything. We didn’t have to come up with a backstory that would make sense; it’s all there. But these new characters, which Force is very much about, find themselves in new situations—so even if you don’t know anything about Star Wars, you’re right there with them. If you are a fan of Star Wars, what they experience will have added meaning.”
That’s the past, but what of the future? Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story takes place a short time before that original first Star Wars film, but then we have Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII, which will follow on from the events of The Force Awakens. “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,” explains Abrams. “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 and there that he needs for his story. He is an incredibly accomplished filmmaker and 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.”
For more from Abrams, check out Wired’s full interview. And for all you need to know about The Force Awakens, this handy guide is lurking on our site. Star Wars: The Force Awakens lands in the UK on December 17.