With just over a month until we finally get to see THE FORCE AWAKENS, the marketing machine at Disney has begun to kick into high gear with new footage we never expected to see. That also means that more and more interviews and tidbits will be coming to light that will help hint at where things will be going in the latest STAR WARS film and beyond.
In an interview with Wired, J.J. Abrams shared some new info regarding STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII and the fact that the first draft of the screenplay has already been completed.
"The script for VIII is written. I’m sure rewrites are going to be endless, like they always are. But what Larry [Kasdan] and I did was set up certain key relationships, certain key questions, conflicts. And we knew where certain things were going. We had meetings with Rian and Ram Bergman, the producer of VIII. They were watching dailies when we were shooting our movie," he said. "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."
While Abrams will be serving only in a producing capacity on STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII, he did go on to say that working with Lawrence Kasdan helped him from a writing perspective and should definitely inform his movies going forward. But, in regards to questions as to whether the next chapter in the STAR WARS saga will feel like it comes from Abrams rather than Rian Johnson, the FORCE AWAKENS director put those concerns to rest.
"Rian has asked for a couple of things here and there that he needs for his story," Abrams continued. "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 you’re right—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."
With Abrams and Kasdan penning THE FORCE AWAKENS and turning it over to Johnson for EPISODE VIII sounds similar to the original news that the LOOPER director would write and direct the next chapter and hand over an outline to EPISODE IX helmer Colin Trevorrow. I like that there is consistency in the pattern of filmmaking here but also that each director is given a level of control over the story they plan to tell. Hopefully once THE FORCE AWAKENS opens next month we will all be chomping at the bit to see where the next episode will take us.
STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII is set to hit theaters on May 26, 2017.