J.J. Abrams says the opportunity to direct Star Wars outweighs the fear

January 8th 2015, 11:47am

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

With the news that some fantastic martial artists have joined the production of STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS, this further cements the public's faith in J.J. Abrams to cast the right people for the next installment in this space opera. With STAR WARS showing up at the top of a lot of people's list of 'Most Anticipated Films of 2015', one might wonder whether or not the pressure is getting to Mr. Abrams. He recently spoke with MTV about the massive expectations that come with directing a STAR WARS film, and how he feels bout the work he's done.

All I know is that it is, without question, an intense and terrifying prospect. The opportunity, I think, is greater than the fear, than the risk. I’m more excited about the work everyone has done on the movie and this incredible cast. It was an amazing experience making this movie, I mean for everyone. There was a sort of weird buzz in the air when we were making this movie, but we were all aware how hard we had to work to make it something worthy of people’s time.

Regardless of what you may think of his output, it takes some balls to do what Abrams has done. With STAR TREK, he took a beloved franchise and wasn't afraid to put his own spin on it, for better and for worse. STAR WARS is as big as you get when it comes to science fiction films, and the man stepped up to the plate. There's no denying that the anticipation is through the roof, but I'd argue that if anything, the prequels actually put J.J. Abrams in a BETTER position to deliver something that doesn't disappoint. Regardless of public opinion, I'm not a hater of the prequel trilogy by any stretch, but it's easy to look back on what went wrong and how to avoid that going forward. Somebody was going to direct this film and I have no doubt Abrams took the job believing that he could deliver something we'd all be happy with. Whether or not that's true will remain a mystery until December, but I'm approaching this one optimistically.

STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS will be released on December 18.

There's a reason THE FORCE AWAKENS made it high up on our list of top trailers from last year!