Director J.J. Abrams chats with the cast on the set of Star Trek
Star Trek reboot director J.J. Abrams recently revealed the reasons why he turned down the opportunity to direct one of the upcoming Star Wars films.
In a recent interview with Empire magazine, Star Trek Into Darkness director J.J. Abrams confirmed that he had been approached to direct a new Star Wars movie but turned down the offer out of his loyalty to another big sci-fi franchise.
“There were the very early conversations,” said Abrams to Empire, “and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to Star Trek – and also just being a fan – I wouldn’t even want to be involved in the next version of those things.”
Interestingly, following the recent sale of LucasFilm to Disney, J.J. Abrams wasn’t the first big-name director to turn down the opportunity to work on the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII and future films in the franchise. Steven Spielberg, Zack Snyder, Joss Whedon, and Jon Favreau have either denied rumors of their involvement or flatout confirmed that they would not take part in the upcoming Star Wars trilogy.
So why did J.J. Abrams, one of the most successful sci-fi directors in Hollywood, turn down Star Wars? For Abrams, it was all about remaining a fan of the Star Wars movies rather than being spoiled by the filmmaking process.
“I declined any involvement very early on,” Abrams continued. “I’d rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them.”
With several high profile directors out the running, Star Wars: Episode VII is still without a helmer. With a tentative release date of 2015 already announced, Disney and LucasFilm head, Kathleen Kennedy, will need to lock down a director in the not too distant future. A script by screenwriter Michael Arndt is already in the works but no other names have been attached to the film’s production.
In November is was reported that writers Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg were allegedly hired to write Episode VIII and Episode IX.
Who do you think should direct Star Wars: Episode VII or any of the upcoming films?