E7 CLOSER LOOK PT I: JJ Abrams – Hollywood’s Ultimate Set-up Man!
On January 25th of 2013 Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd. officially announced that Jeffrey Jacob Abrams would be filming the first new Star Wars episode of the new era. After the jump we’ll look into why this was the best possible choice!
After D-Day 2012 the internet went crazy with hysterical Star Wars fans cyber-ventelating over the G I N O R M O U S, nerd-shattering news that we would be getting a new trilogy of movies and then some! Inhaler company profits boomed! In the early wake of this tremendous info-bomb we fans started flooding message boards of all types to re-start the hype machine, cranked right to eleven. We discussed everything under the sun with regards to the new movies to include, obviously, who would be tapped first to direct. Many hot names came up such as Rian Johnson, Neill Blompkamp, Colin Trevorrow, and Matthew Vaughn. Well-established directors were discussed as well with such tent-pole mainstays as Zack Snyder, Peter Jackson, and Steven Spielberg leading the pack. Some people, here and there, mentioned JJ Abrams, but he was by no means the fans’ first choice.
Then on January 25th of 2013 we found out that JJ was indeed the choice. This decision, Disney and Kathleen Kennedy’s first MAJOR move since the news broke, was met with mixed reviews to say the least. Most of the complaining about JJ revolved around his gratuitous use of “lens flares” in his Star Trek reboot, a conscientious style choice which fans let be known would NOT fly in their galaxy far, far away. While some fans were outright outraged, and other fans were actually excited, the overwhelming reaction was, “Meh, a safe choice.”
JJ Abrams is not merely a “safe choice,” one recommended by none other than Steven Spielberg by the way, but rather, upon closer examination, a brilliant choice! Quickly touching upon some of his various credits we find that JJ has a wide and successful array of genres to include: writing Regarding Henry (with Harrison Ford), producing the cult hits Joy Ride & Cloverfield, creating and running the popular TV shows Felicity & Alias, and of course directing Mission Impossible 3, the Spielberg homage Super 8, and the aforementioned Star Trek. There are many people in Hollywood who would sell their own mothers for those credits alone, and those just barely scratch the surface.
However, I believe JJ Abrams shines brightest in a few of his credits, to include his co-creating LOST of which he directed the first two episodes and executive produced the entire run of the show, his Star Trek reboot, and the hardly-heralded novel “S.” which he conceived with author Doug Dorst. I’ll examine these three examples in order to show why JJ is such a perfect choice to direct Star Wars Episode VII thus setting-up the Sequel Trilogy and beyond. As I briefly mentioned in my recent article about the future of the Star Wars series, JJ Abrams is Hollywood’s ultimate set-up man. JJ has co-created and produced roughly ten successful TV series. Many of his series — Alias, LOST, Person of Interest — contain(ed) many different characters with many different storylines. And His brilliance, love of mythology, and devotion to running mysteries, affectionately dubbed “JJ’s Mystery Box” concept, is keenly illustrated in LOST. Here JJ gives a TED talk, explaining his affection for the “mystery box” strategy:
LOST co-creator, and JJ’s close personal friend, Damon Lindelof spoke to Ben Lilly of TEDBlog about the mystery box concept:
BL: You’re known for telling stories that are infused with really big ideas. Is there a special challenge in making a story that doesn’t have a tidy end, or doesn’t close in all the normal ways, but maybe does get at a much bigger idea?
DL: Yeah. I believe that this idea of story or myth or this thing that Joseph Campbell writes about is sort of an inter-connective spiritual force — like The Force in Star Wars — where it doesn’t matter where you were raised, or what your background is, there are certain elements of story that totally appeal to you.When the blanks aren’t filled in for you, your own imagination tends to fill them in. That’s the storytelling that I’ve always been interested in. I certainly have suffered the slings and arrows of criticism for being too vague at times, but I always give much more credit to this sort of collective consciousness and imagination of the audience watching my story than on my own imagination.
And so there’s that idea of leaving some things up for grabs, so that you can personalize the story in your own way. There’s certainly a road that I want you to go down in my storytelling, but if you choose not to go down it, that’s very exciting for me. I feel like great TEDTalks are ones that are a little bit subject to interpretation, that do provoke further conversation — and potentially controversy. They’re the talks that, when you walk out of them, you need to instantly seek out somebody else who heard it to talk more about it, without the presence of the person who presented the idea. At that point, you’re now grafting the idea to your own psychological framework, and that’s what really great story does.
LOST was a massive series that ran six successful seasons. It contained many characters many of whom were inspired by mythological archetypes — for example Sawyer, “The con-man” was the LOST version of Han Solo — as well as philosophers — John Locke was a character whose name happened to be that of a famed philosopher. The Island itself was both an environment of mystery as well as infused with mythological powers, a character in and of itself. IF you haven’t seen LOST you owe it to yourself to watch it, OR, at the very least, the first two episodes directed by JJ Abrams. IF you don’t watch it, then just browse around the LOSTpedia for further reading into the mysteries and mythology of the phenomenon.
I contend that LOST is precisely why Kathleen Kennedy pushed to get Abrams. In my last article I argued that Disney will continue the franchise, the current series that is, beyond Episode IX and I stand by that belief. Disney is right now in the process of implementing a “soft reboot” the way almost every other franchise cannot do — by passing on the torch to a new generation of heroes and villains with the blessing and participation of the original generation. Disney/LFL has, no doubt, gone through great expense and painstaking care in bringing back the Big 3 — Ford, Fisher and Hamill — as well as Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhew to assure a pleasurable transition that we die-hard-core fans would both love and appreciate. They have spent countless months, while scouring many countries and states, searching for just the right talent to carry-on the saga going forward. All of this has been overseen by JJ Abrams, a man well-groomed for launching or even re-launching series, which brings us to Star Trek.
The 2009 Trek reboot was both extremely difficult in the sense that Paramount wanted to revive the franchise with fresh faces, but also NOT alienate its core fanbase. Extremely difficult task! JJ Abrams and Bad Robot took on the reboot challenge and succeeded with flying colors. Personally speaking, never really big Trek fan, I found the new movies to be extremely enjoyable space adventures that had a dash more mythology thrown in. AND the series, which is now projected to go on for the foreseeable future has been developed properly. JJ has introduced alot of major players — the Enterprise and her crew, Kirk’s major love-interest in Carol Marcus and Kirk’s major villain in Kahn — and storylines with the brewing war between the Romulans, Klingons and Federation. In other words, they are everything Paramount hoped they would be!
“But Star Wars is a ship of a different color,” you say. And you’d be correct. Again, as I already stated, JJ has illustrated his mastery of mythology with the show LOST. To a certain extent there was a certain mythology with Alias as well. BUT, lest anyone have any doubts whatsoever about JJ’s adoration and knowledge of myth then look no further than the book he collaborated on with Doug Dorst. I am currently reading the book “S.” (Ship of Theseus) and I can tell you first-hand that it is loaded with all the elements that make JJ both brilliant and great (if there’s really any difference between the two.) The Book — an interactive experience really — is shrouded in mystery from the first page as there is some doubt as to who its author is = Mystery Box, complete with clues and everything! The book is really two stories in one as we follow along with a couple of readers who exchange notes back and forth throughout the pages. Then there’s the mythology/philosophy as “Ship of Theseus” pertains to the ancient Greek legend of Theseus famed for defeating the minotaur. His ship even spawned the famous thought experiment by the same name. So, while this is a book, it is working on multiple different levels at once in a purely enjoyable, if not entirely genius conception.
Genius, talent, awards, and accolades aside, a movie production like a ship needs a good captain. This is where JJ has especially shined during the year plus of Episode VII production. Initially, the first major waves the ship had to endure was the script itself, wherein it was rumored (and never confirmed) that there was a battle of ideology over where the script headed — Original Cast moreover New Cast or vice versa. JJ’s side, apparently more focus on the original cast, won over. AND this is the correct decision simply for the fact that this moment, this opportunity in history is once in a lifetime, to be able to bring in the majority of the major cast and have them serve as connective tissue for the series moving forward.
Then we all know about the mishap with Harrison Ford while filming on the Millennium Falcon set. JJ’s friend and fellow director Matt Reeves spoke recently to MTV News about the Star Wars production which bodes well for the fans:
“I will say this: I haven’t seen him this excited or this nervous in a very long time,” Reeves told MTV’s Josh Horowitz during the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “And when he gets that level of fear, it means he’s about to do something exciting.”
Writer, producer, director, creator, artist, genius, set-up man! Yes, emphatically YES to each and every one of those descriptors, JJ Abrams is without a doubt all of them and more. Abrams brings a technically sound, FILMED production, a passion for practical FX enhanced by CGI, and adaptive style to the table. His understanding and love of philosophy, mythology, and psychology have made him the master story-teller he is today and the BEST possible choice for the present and future of Star Wars. Where George Lucas has created the foundations and the bedrock, read “sandbox,” for others to play, JJ Abrams is the perfect creator to re-launch the saga into the untold reaches of the future. He is carefully setting up the characters, mysteries, conflicts, and storylines that will carry the saga forward unto perpetuity.
While I laud Abrams and all his many talents, he is not alone in this exciting new era. JJ is currently working with a large and talented group of story-tellers, collaborators, who are all working in concert to realize the full scope of the Star Wars mythos. In “E7 Closer Look Part II,” I will take a closer look at the Star Wars brain-trust.
I’m a JJ fan so the news for me was outstanding. I loved it even more that initially he said no! Only to be overcome by it and finally accept it. I seriously couldn’t be more happy with what’s happening with the latest movie.
Side note… for the life of my I’ve tried to have this chat recognize my facebook and it just wont. Sigh… anonymous for life 🙁
Please send me an email with the issue. I want to ask you a few things. We’re still fixing stuff.
Good article, ViralHide. Looking forward to part 2. ^_^
You mean Echo-07,right?
“I found the new movies to be extremely enjoyable space adventures that had a dash more mythology thrown in.”
Um ok yeah I enjoyed the film but there wasn’t really any mythology at all lmao. It was just a weak mix of a coming of age and origin story. I agree that I think JJ likes mythology but star trek did not show that at all. It was an action film. A good action film. But pretty much no mythology or deeper meaning to anything at all..
“His understanding and love of philosophy”
ha didn’t JJ say he coudn’t get into star trek because it was ‘more philosophical’?..
Interesting read nonetheless
I do agree, there is not an ounce of mythology in Abrams’ Star Trek. Just like you said, a good action-adventure film but rather shallow.
However, I am certain he is the man for Star Wars !
If you think the Star Trek was shallow then I suggest you rewatch Into Darkness because there’s plenty of thoughtful stuff going on. Consider the conflict between passion/emotion and logic. There’s plenty of that as well as character development. And it is kirks coming of age story. And isn’t the OT really Lukes coming of age story?
LOST was incredible! I’ve been a huge JJ fan since that series started. I feel very confident in the new era of Star Wars, JJ will not let us down. Great read!
Hey, I see that you’re using your Facebook profile for the comments. Did you have any issues? Some people are complaining that they can’t log-in with G+ or Facebook and that their avatars are not displayed.
J.J IS DOING A GREAT JOB
Thank god I read this, I had lost all faith/hope after reading a horrendously written article on Latino Review (on the same topic too) Check it out here if you have the patience http://www.latino-review.com/news/star-wars-december-2015-or-bust. This, however, is top notch! Continue your great work!
LR gave a bad review because there were not enough Latinos in the SW franchise, save for the co pilot with Lando.
I typically don’t mind his articles, but that story really irritated me. It sounds more like sensationalism based on one or two rumors over actual reporting. Since when does a leg injury equate to Disney considering J. J. Abrams an incompetent director?
The reason i love Star Wars and ignore most blockbusters is that Star Wars gives you much more then your 2 hour action movie. If JJ can make me care about the characters, give us a an interesting story, give us a touch of drama and humor along with keeping the tradition of mythology in a galaxy far far away, then i will be satisfied. Most blockbusters are just worried about action and CGI and are forgettable where Star Wars has always been much more then that.
I actually hate action films and blockbusters. They just feel cheap and forgetful to me. It’s always a mix of amusement and anger I feel when people simply box star wars off as just another series being about the special effects.. To be honest, if it weren’t for The Force, Old-ben, r2 and c3po, yoda, vader, john williams music, etc etc then I honestly don’t think I’d be into star wars all that much. The fireworks of it all are indeed great, but for me, it’s Luke Leia and Han that carry star wars. I can’t imagine those films without them. So I really hope that JJ and co’ are going to be focusing on the characters and making them interesting people to watch like the OT and then simply using the effects to help tell their story, rather than it being the other way around.
I freely admit that even the poorly made prequels have more substance than most sci fi movies out there.
Carol Marcus was a major love interest? Lol, not even if she had an alien tail coming out her ass…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2674071/Harrison-Ford-Helena-Bonham-Carter-Cool-Britannia-2-guest-list-Cameron-rolls-red-carpet-Hollywood.html
Will be interesting to see what Harrison Ford’s condition is like if he attends.
Love how he is talking about star wars in that video 🙂
Disney may be preparing Star Wars to carry on after Episode 9, but the whole Skywalker arc and the numbering of films should end at 9.
Star Wars not only set a whole new standard for Hollywood, as in FX and story. But also today Hollywood won’t touch many scripts or story ideas if it won’t be a successful “Trilogy” of films.
So in my opinion… the main heart of Star Wars should be a “Trilogy of Trilogies”
I agree with the Trilogy of Trilogies idea although I do think that it would be a good thing to have the Skywalker clan continue to be prominent in future films. And if Luke survives this trilogy, I don’t think it would be problematic to have him appear from time to time in an old Obi-wan sort of capacity.
But, yes, I hope that this trilogy draws upon both of the preceding trilogies for its inspiration and helps to unite them, ultimately bringing the entire 9 film cycle to a satisfying conclusion.
Maybe they will see where they stand after VII and VIII. If they have successfully come up with a set of well-received younger characters that can carry a new trilogy all by themselves following IX, they will likely try it.
Otherwise IX should be written as THE as-satisfying-as-possible end to the core Star Wars saga (which of course does not rule out freestanding spin-off movies). IX should not just be a “sequel hook” constructed to allow Disney go on milking the cow indefinitely.
Personally I do feel that VII-IX should somehow also deal with the end of the material existence of Han, Luke and Leia, bringing full closure to their story.
Of course, Luke’s fleeting Force ghost could still offer a few words of wisdom here and there in X – XII, if Disney really has to go there.
As long as the creativity, passion and dedication to excellence remain, “milk away”.
That would guarantee a degraded ending or no ending at all. If the only signal to quit is having run out of passion etc then, by definition, the last episode will have to lack passion and be bad which undermines all of the story leading up to it.
I agree. IX should not be a sequel hook or leave any narrative loose ends. It’s okay to have Star Wars films after that but they should have totally separate story arcs.
Stofolupinoid:
No, because the idea here is you would stop when you ran out of steam, not afterwards.
If JJ comes up with interesting and dynamic young characters, especially female characters, he will definitely strike a chord with a huge and influential, emerging (especially female) young audience .
Well, if they do decide to make more movies, they should still keep the “trilogy effect”. They could then make a “Trilogy of Trilogies of Trilogies” and have 27 movies.
So if they keep the pattern of making an Episode a year followed by a Spinoff in the year before the next Episode, and you’re suggesting they add 18 Episodes and a subsequent 17 Spinoffs, that would total up to 35 films in addition to the ones they already have planned – meaning there would be movies up until 2055.
…Which would mean that they could keep making Battlefront games until that time and beyond.
Make it happen.
Well, George Lucas said that Disney would keep making Star Wars for “100 years” and Disney said “40 years” so they could be making close to that amount.
I loved your article and I REALLY loved Abrams’ talk at TED. That talk really helped cement my feeling that Star Wars is in the best possible hands. LOST is one of my two all time favorite T.V. series (along with Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and I thought Super-8 was probably the best fake Spielberg film ever made (and I actually do mean that as a compliment)! I worry a bit that there’s no indication that J.J. is doing future episodes but you are correct that he has shown a genius for getting the ball rolling and then handing it off to others (with his supervision) to continue in the compelling direction he’s set up. So I hope this is what’s happening with Star Wars.
The most important thing of all is that he seems like the least cynical person for the job. He seems genuinely excited to be creating and to be part of the Star Wars universe and I think he understands how important what he’s doing is.
Thanks again for a great article and GO J.J.!
Take away the name. If you look at his credits as a director, there isn’t much there. Star Trek is by far his best film. MI 3 was below average. Super 8 had a few nostalgic moments that were fun, but the movie felt hollow. It was all sugar, no substance.
I never really liked Alias. It just felt like standard, episodic television.
His credits as a writer aren’t great, and everything is very safe.
Say what you want about Lucas, but Star Wars was anything but safe. It was a huge, experimental risk.
I am not saying that I don’t like JJ. He seems to really care about the fans, which is the main reason that I think he is involved. H might do a wonderful job at creating a new episode. I will certainly go and see Star Wars. No doubt.
But JJ has never given me any indication that he is in the Spielberg category…or even Lucas. He creates popcorn movies that aren’t very noteworthy.
It reminds me of how there was the Muppets remake that was really fun and a great popcorn movie, but was very forgettable. It’s a retread. It will never be the Muppet Movie. Magic was captured because it was the first time through. It was new and daring.
The only way that I think that this move could be great was if there was real daring and originality. But that is not JJ Abrams . He is the set-up man.
The Prequels were a flop. I cringe when I look at them. They are visually not believable. But, to George’s credit, he took gigantic risks. Tried totally new things. and he whiffed. But that is the only way you can be great.
JJ might do a yeoman’s job piecing everything together, but he is building on someone else’s vision. He is the safe, logical choice.
I think a new Star Wars movie is the ultimate catch 22 for whoever directs the movies, even Lucas with the Prequels. The Originals can never be duplicated, as everything worked in that trilogy, and there was movie music magic created on screen that makes them classics. It is VERY hard to duplicate once you start making sequels and prequels, and if there were a formula then there would be more classic movies.
If anyone is looking for the Sequel Trilogy (Or even the Prequels in 1999) to equal the Originals, its just wasn’t going to happen. So why make these movies if they can’t live up to the originals?
Part of me says they should have stopped in 1983, as the sequels and prequels will always look inferior, and like any great TV show, there is a time to end it all.
Then there is a part of me who is selfish and wants more Star Wars, despite knowing in the back of my mind it wont be as great as the Originals. But we love the universe so much that a pretty good or very good Star Wars movie is still better then your average blockbuster movie.
Even though the Prequels were average movies at best (And I wont argue with anyone who hates them because I understand), I still watch them over most blockbuster movies today. The same goes for the Sequel Trilogy, as part of me cannot wait to someday watch all 9 movies as one big story. Sure 4-6 will always be the best, but each movie makes the Original Trilogy that much more interesting. The Prequels gave us Luke and Leia’s parents and a young Obiwan along with the rise of the Emperor, where now the Sequels will give us Han/Leia’s kids, and possibly a young padawan to Luke. And I still think how surreal it will feel if they actually kill Luke, Leia or Han in the Sequel Trilogy, because those are my most beloved characters of any movie franchise.
I just think that Star Wars in our DNA and most of us should just enjoy the ride and worry later. This could be a big huge mistake in the end, but Star Wars is a franchise that nothing can compare to. Lets see what happens next….
JJ also created Fringe, one of the best sci-fi show in recent years. Everyone seems to forget that in context of him directing new Star Wars.
This guy gets a little too much praise than he deserves.
I agree with most comments here. Abrams is a good filmmaker, but not a great one. His Trek films were good, but not great (and certainly nothing about them says mythological archetypes at ALL). And finally, he was a good choice for SW7, but not a great one.
Personally, I would’ve preferred the ST going to someone like Chris Nolan (now there is a true genius, indeed), but with Kasdan’s help, Abrams may yet deliver a good SW film, even if it’s not a great one.
Christopher Nolan, ha ha ha, no.
It should have gone to Peter Jackson. I know, I know, he’s gone overboard with Orlando Bloom in the hobbit movies and action has turned to camp and farce of the original LOTR. But having the weight of the original SW, JAckson would have gone back to form like he did for FOTR and spent hundreds of hours researching the mythology he did on LOTR to create perfect scenes for ep. VII
Speaking of sw going on beyond episode IX: It’s so rare that a series/franchise ends as well as it began. So much so that when it does happen, the result is remembered for a long time (the LOTR books, Breaking Bad, the OT). Perhaps the main reason it’s so rare that things end well enough to make a series feel whole and complete is that it’s so hard to resist the profits that come from continuing indefinitely and letting things fizzle and loose both stylistic consistancy and narrative direction. One solution is to have each trilogy be highly self contained with solid endings so when one of the films or trilogies falls flat the ones that came before them still feel complete.
I think that he is a good choice to direct, I just don’t think that the same person should direct “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”. I think that they would become to similar.
As long as they don’t drown the movie with too much CGI and any camera flares, i think it should be fine. They have good writers, etc, so im sure the story will be fun.
I am guessing that if you read the script for the OT before it came out, you wouldn’t think there were good films in there.
Nobody but George Lucas could have created Star Wars. That story was in his DNA.
Having to have the series continue after so many decades is pretty unique, especially without any Lucas involvement.
I really hope that the story gets pushed aggressively into new directions with the OT characters. I don’t want wise old Luke, or an grouchier version of Solo. These characters need to have had major life experiences in 30 years that altered who they are. Otherwise, it isn’t going to have the necessary weight to make this trilogy its own beast.
The farther you take the story away from the OT, the better imo. Forget all inclinations to do an homage. Start new.
Just don’t take it farther for its own sake. The change in characters need to feel organic.
FORD REMAINS IN LONDON: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2674071/Harrison-Ford-Helena-Bonham-Carter-Cool-Britannia-2-guest-list-Cameron-rolls-red-carpet-Hollywood.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
I’m actually a big fan of JJ’s lense flares. That kind of valeing forground activity was much needed in the otherwise visually sterile and expositional looking world of Star Trek. Like raindrops or blood on the lense, lense flares are just one form of nature’s randomness getting into the camera.
That’s a lot of randomness to compensate for a sterile and bland world.
Do you think Leia will become Force sensitive in VII?
I would certainly hope that she already is at the start! It’s been 30 years after all and she had a reasonable head start in Empire when she heard Luke’s cry for help. Yes, I would love it if Episode 7 began with Leia already a full fledged Jedi. It would be a shame if Luke’s prediction that “in time, you’ll learn to use it as I have” had not come to fruition.
Leia has plenty of time between VI and VII to become a Jedi Master, especially since she’s a Skywalker. Luke became a Jedi Knight in a few years, so why not?
Probably. It might be why she’s lost upwards of 30 pounds to play the role again.
I confess I am not much of a JJ fan so far. Lost was just a cliffhanger based TV series. LOST worked on very basic TV consumer instincts. There was not script, no meaning to it, just cliffhangers and “unexpected shocks”. Naturally it worked for a broad audience. But when the series closed most people were disapointed. Star Trek IMO he ruined. A director that choses to make a movie with a bunch of quite poor teenactors instead of Patrick Steward, well …
He turned Star Trek into yet another Ironman action movie. Of course it sells well, but the actual “Art of Startrek” was to make an exciting movie based on “Turbolift conversations”, Starships with carpets, and an aging bold Captain as the hero.
I suppose he is more suited for Starwars than he was for Startrek (after all he stated that he intends to make Startrek more like Starwars). What has leaked so far looks nice, so I am happy to be positively surprised.
JJs Startrek was really a disgusting movie. The giving birth while Farther dies in Spacebattle was one of the most pathetic Holywood scences I’ve had to witness. How emotionally retard did JJ think the audience is? Most of the boring teen actors simply can’t compare to Patrik Steward or Andreas Katsulas. From JJ we got bearded Romulans instead of Commander Tomalak or Gul Dukat which were some of the most complex villains in TV history.
But Starwars is different and I won’t judge it until I see it.