Jon Favreau talks the “Revolution” pilot & working with J.J. Abrams

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Now that NBC has officially ordered Eric Kripke and J.J. Abrams’ post-apocalyptic series “Revolution,” pilot director Jon Favreau can speak open and freely about the project. And thanks to THR, the fine gent has done just that!

While addressing a number of topics, a few stood out regarding “Revolution.” Chief among them, how directing a TV pilot differs from a feature film:

“Pilots tend to have a longer time to film than an episode, but it’s certainly a lot less than a movie. But we had a really tight script and I was working with producers like Eric Kripke and JJ Abrams, who have been involved in TV a lot. JJ and I have been looking to work together in TV for a long time, so you just have to prepare a little more. The casting process is crazy, especially when you have a lot of unknowns, a lot of discoveries, and the Bad Robot shows, JJ’s shows, are all really cast-driven, so a lot of care went into finding the right people for the parts. So it really all worked out well, I’m very pleased with how well it all turned out.”

What about the dystopic nature of the piece?

“Yeah, we wanted to make it actually hopeful, even though that doesn’t sound like it really fits with the dystopian world that post-apocalyptic stories are usually set against. But the feeling was that there was a whole younger generation that grew up without power and that when nature begins to reclaim what we’ve built, whether it’s cities, you see the city of Chicago 15 years after it’s been all but abandoned, you see that the plants start to grow back over things and there’s a lushness and a greenness, and the green shoots of new life that have come over society, so it’s kind of an interesting, different spin on it that was something, we had really did and planned for and discussed.”

Perhaps most intriguing:

“It definitely shares some DNA with Lost and the other Bad Robot shows, but I think when Eric came up with the idea for this, I think he was looking at things like Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, how to set a fantasy with swords and lo-tech societies butting [heads] and set it on an American backdrop. So even though America’s overgrown, it has a personality that you don’t see in those European-based shows.”

Until we hear when the “Revolution” will be televised, check out some new stills from the show…