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J.J. Abrams is regretting not directing Episode VIII
Posted on 12/23/15 at 11:51 am
Posted on 12/23/15 at 11:51 am
quote:
J.J. ABRAMS recently read the script for Episode VIII of Star Wars. And he had a reaction to it that his lifelong friend, “The Force Awakens” actor Greg Grunberg, had not ever heard from the director over their decades together in the industry.
“He read it and said something he never, ever says,” Grunberg, who plays pilot Snap Wexley in the new film, tells The Post’s Comic Riffs. “He said: ‘It’s so good, I wish I were making it.’
“He may have said something one time on ‘Lost,’ with Damon [Lindelof, the co-creator],” continues Grunberg, whose credits on Abrams series include “Lost” and “Felicity,” “but I never hear him express regret like that.”
Abrams’s remark serves, too, as a ringing endorsement of the new script and its filmmaker. The writer-director now inheriting the Star Wars franchise, of course, is Rian Johnson, the USC film grad who made “Brick,” “Looper” and “The Brothers Bloom.” Abrams has said that he shared early cuts of Episode VII with Johnson, to help make the transition between the two Star Wars films more seamless, ahead of Episode VIII’s scheduled 2017 release.
And Abrams, as we know, isn’t leaving Star Wars altogether. As he’s done with the Star Trek franchise, Abrams will remain on as a producer (in the case of Star Wars, as an executive producer).
Still, as a director, Abrams has chosen to let go. He knew he was simply the latest caregiver to George Lucas’s baby, but he had the staggering challenge of giving it script-to-screen resuscitation after the mostly horrendous prequels.
Star Trek to Star Wars, J.J. Abrams becomes the go-to guardian of our childhood
Now, Abrams exits the chair as the conquering hero, with keys to the Disney Kingdom and beyond. He reinvigorated the franchise to record-breaking box office, both domestically and globally. And “The Force Awakens” becomes the foundation not only for at least four more planned films, but also for the full menu of Disney commercial-synergy options — from an anticipated $3-billion in toy sales to Star Wars-themed amusement parks.
Even to a greater degree than Abrams did with Star Trek, Grunberg says that the director — his fellow-geek friend since kindergarten — made this “Star Wars reinvested,” in multiple senses of that term.
Grunberg also notes that for his own scenes during the climactic action of “The Force Awakens,” he was given a list of lines to say while sitting in his pilot’s gimbal. “It was lines like,’ ‘He’s on my left!’ and ‘I got him!’ and ‘Poe!’ I was told to also say, ‘I’ve been hit!’ but I refused to. I wasn’t going to go down.”
Grunberg, in other words, has the same reaction as Abrams: He longs to stick around as this wild cinematic ride continues.
I'm so ready for Episode VIII
LINK
Posted on 12/23/15 at 11:57 am to RLDSC FAN
I'm watching Episode 5 in preparation.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 11:57 am to RLDSC FAN
See, this is why I was totally confident in the franchise moving into the hands of the directors who grew up as fans. Lucas became too fixated on the marketing dollars and totally threw out the baby with the bathwater. I'm glad they greased his palms to wrest this property from his vienna sausage fingers.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:01 pm to RLDSC FAN
I keep reading about how good the Ep 8 script is, and that Rian Johnson is a better director in terms of talent. Haven't seen Johnson's Looper, but one of his Breaking Bad episodes that he directed, Ozymandias was outstanding.
This post was edited on 12/23/15 at 12:20 pm
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:03 pm to RLDSC FAN
Movie doesn't need a hype train, it's a hype supernova at this point. So this is probably legit.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:05 pm to RLDSC FAN
JJ liking it doesn't fill me with anticipation.
Looper was kind of ridiculous.
Looper was kind of ridiculous.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:16 pm to blueboy
quote:
JJ liking it doesn't fill me with anticipation.
shocking
quote:
Looper was kind of ridiculous.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:24 pm to blueboy
quote:The ending to Looper has to be one of the best movie endings of since 2000...at least.
Looper was kind of ridiculous.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:31 pm to RLDSC FAN
quote:
Now, Abrams exits the chair as the conquering hero, with keys to the Disney Kingdom and beyond. He reinvigorated the franchise to record-breaking box office, both domestically and globally.
This lionization of Abrams is ridiculous. Even if Lucas had put out another steaming pile of crap, we know that the box office take would still have been enormous - and possibly record-setting.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:32 pm to MontyFranklyn
I liked looper
Brick not so much
Brick not so much
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:33 pm to blueboy
Looper had some odd moments for sure, but the ending/plot twist were fricking fantastic. One of my favorite movie endings in recent memory.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:36 pm to Big Scrub TX
quote:
This lionization of Abrams is ridiculous. Even if Lucas had put out another steaming pile of crap, we know that the box office take would still have been enormous - and possibly record-setting.
Negative. Take a look at what episodes 1-3 did at the box office in the 2000s.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:43 pm to MightyYat
Lawrence Kasdan has also gone out of his way to praise the hell out of the Episode 8 script, calling it a "weird thing" and that he absolutely just loved it. He was seriously gushing about it.
Rian has filled notebooks and notebooks on worldbuilding, detail, plot development, script notes (he tweeted out some of the notebooks). He's been working on it for a long time. I think he's going to knock it out of the damn park.
The fact that Disney gave him script duty on Episode 9 as well must mean they have a lot of confidence as well. And this era of Disney doesn't frick around.
Rian has filled notebooks and notebooks on worldbuilding, detail, plot development, script notes (he tweeted out some of the notebooks). He's been working on it for a long time. I think he's going to knock it out of the damn park.
The fact that Disney gave him script duty on Episode 9 as well must mean they have a lot of confidence as well. And this era of Disney doesn't frick around.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:45 pm to MightyYat
quote:
Negative. Take a look at what episodes 1-3 did at the box office in the 2000s.
Just domestically, they averaged $370 Million. It's preposterous to act as if a Lucas-led Episode VII would not have been huge.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:48 pm to MightyYat
quote:
Negative. Take a look at what episodes 1-3 did at the box office in the 2000s.
What? Those movies were F-ing huge.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:48 pm to RLDSC FAN
i honestly cannot think of a better person to direct the next film than rian johnson.
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:52 pm to blueboy
Are you gonna stop trolling and shitting up Star Wars threads anytime soon?
TIA
TIA
Posted on 12/23/15 at 12:55 pm to The Pirate King
Lol. You know the answer to that. Just ignore him
Posted on 12/23/15 at 1:00 pm to Fun Bunch
quote:
The fact that Disney gave him script duty on Episode 9 as well must mean they have a lot of confidence as well. And this era of Disney doesn't frick around.
Exactly. I don't understand how people could think Star Wars being in the hands of Disney could have been anything but a good thing. It's extremely rare for them to miss. Especially with a franchise of this magnitude. They know the revenue from merchandise and spin offs within the universe is way too much to miss out on by coming out with a bad trilogy.
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