Calling it “the first time I’ve talked about the movie with anybody that wasn’t working on it,” an antsy Abrams describes the film as “an adventure about a small town and it’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s scary and there’s a mystery: What is this thing that has escaped? What are the ramifications of its presence? And what is the effect on people?…”
The film is described as a mix between THE X-FILES, E.T., STAND BY ME and GOONIES. Two of those films should not surprise you seeing as how producer Steven Spielberg’s 80s oeuvre seems to be a major influence on the film. SUPER 8 follows a group of kids in 1979 using their Super 8 camera to shoot a zombie movie. They accidentally film the train crash you see in the original teaser and the monster that escapes from the inside.
The movie came about as Abrams had two separate movies in his mind: one a coming-of-age movie and the other, a thriller about Area 51 aliens. When he couldn’t think of a way to get both films moving, “it occurred to me after six months or so to put them together.”
So why did Abrams finally decide to start talking about his movie? ”Yes we’ve got Steven’s name on it and my name on it — for what that’s worth — but we’ve got no famous superhero, we’ve got no pre-existing franchise or sequel, it’s not starring anyone you’ve heard of before. There’s no book, there’s no toy, there’s no comic book. There’s nothing. I don’t have anything; I don’t even have a board game, that’s how bad it is. But I think we have a very good movie.”
Time will tell on that last one but from what we’ve seen and from what Abrams is telling us, we’re off to a good start.