J.J. Abrams on the Missing Scenes from Star Wars: The Force Awakens

JJ Abrams in The FalconAs we all noticed, there are at least several scenes seen in trailers and TV spots that were missing from the final cut of The Force Awakens. Now director J.J. Abrams explains why these scenes had to drop.

 

Some of the most apparent shots that were absent were Kylo Ren igniting his lightsaber in the forest and Maz Kanata handing Luke’s lightsaber to Leia. Here’s what Abrams told EW before the movie hit theaters:

 

From EntertainmentWeekly:

“Sometimes you discover that things you would have cut off a limb to shoot on the day are absolutely inconsequential, and in fact less impactful than if you were to remove it,” he said during an interview at the Bad Robot offices just a day after locking picture.

“As much as you try to kick the tires and write and shoot only what is necessary — no one wants to waste anyone’s time — when you’re in the editing room you realize, for instance, that introducing the character there actually diminishes their power,” Abrams said. “Or, giving that information actually distracts you from what you should be concentrating on. Or, having that moment happen concurrent with that moment actually gets in the way of both — things like that.”

maz kanata-anakin saberAfter the movie opened, Abrams had to say this about the Maz and Leia scene:

That was a scene actually filmed, but we took out. At one point, Maz used to continue along with the characters back to the Resistance base, but we realized that she really had nothing to do there of value, except to be sitting around.

Lupita did film scenes on set for that sequence, but it felt it unnecessary. So we ended up leaving those things out.

How did it end up in the trailer? “The moment was nice and the people who cut the trailer didn’t give a s–t,” he said, before adding quickly: “I’m kidding.” When that shot was included in the April trailer, they were still planning to include the scene.

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

54 thoughts on “J.J. Abrams on the Missing Scenes from Star Wars: The Force Awakens

  • December 23, 2015 at 6:02 pm
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    Too much was taken out, particularly at Maz Kanata’s castle and when we saw Rey at her AT-AT house. The editing literally took the movie from a 9 to a 7.

    • December 23, 2015 at 6:24 pm
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      Did you see an early cut? How could you know that?

      • December 23, 2015 at 6:54 pm
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        Well that force for Daniel guy did

      • December 23, 2015 at 7:07 pm
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        People project – psychological projection is rampant with Star Wars now. It’s part of the reason why the movie is getting lots of praise and props but some still call it a “terrible” film.

        For example, one guy in another article I read elsewhere, about the inner workings of the BB-8 droid prop, said they used a “ton of CGI sand” under BB-8 “at all times.” I didn’t notice that – I was too busy enjoying the movie.

        • December 23, 2015 at 9:44 pm
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          What are you blabbering on about? How is criticising something “projecting”? You’re just recycling what other people have said to you in the past. I enjoyed the movie.

        • December 24, 2015 at 8:33 am
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          Some will always call any film a terrible film, you think we’ll ever get a SW film without people calling it terrible or whatnot, you are living in the land of Oz.

    • December 23, 2015 at 7:39 pm
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      I wanted to see that house,,,how cool would it have been if she’d secretly fixed it and it rose out of the sand to help them escape

      • December 23, 2015 at 8:02 pm
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        Rey and Finn were originally supposed to go back to the AT-AT house, then they took the quad jumper back to the spaceport while being chased by a bounty hunter looking for the droid – then and got the Falcon. Such a shame they cut some of this stuff out.

        • December 23, 2015 at 8:56 pm
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          That sounds quite cool, I should have like to have seen them in the quad jumper, I remember now it was parked inside the At-At in concept artwork

        • December 24, 2015 at 12:00 am
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          That would have slowed down the movie. I am glad they took it out.

  • December 23, 2015 at 6:20 pm
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    It happens in every film, I get it. Still, I would’ve loved seeing Kylo light that fucker up like he did in the trailer. All good, it doesn’t take anything away from the movie.

  • December 23, 2015 at 6:30 pm
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    With “rumors” that Lupita struggled with mo cap, and the apparent cut of some of her scenes, I’m starting to actually believe it. It’s obvious dialogue between Maz and Han, and Maz is Leia were cut.

    • December 23, 2015 at 7:07 pm
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      She was out of her element in this role, couple that with her “I fart gold” attitude and you’ve got a stinker of a performance. Maz Kanata was the worst part of the movie

      • December 23, 2015 at 7:11 pm
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        Do you really believe that? Lupita was down to Earth, humble and elegant in all her public appearances… at least that’s what I saw.

        • December 24, 2015 at 7:17 pm
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          Jeez people, it’s a fake story, it has no basis in reality.

      • December 23, 2015 at 7:21 pm
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        What are you talking about? You tell me that of John Boyega and, well, I would at least understand why you say it, but Lupita? She’s pure humility.

      • December 23, 2015 at 9:29 pm
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        I loved Maz! I thought it was a really cool character, really well acted, and the CGI was really good.

    • December 23, 2015 at 11:58 pm
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      Lupita herself admitted she had problems with mo cap

  • December 23, 2015 at 6:38 pm
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    Has anyone looked through ‘The Visual Dictionary’ yet? I’ve had a quick flick through and noticed a photo of snow troopers aboard the Millennium Falcon. Looked a pretty cool scene.

    • December 23, 2015 at 11:48 pm
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      This photo seems to fit in the novel scene.

    • December 23, 2015 at 11:49 pm
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      There’s a scene in the novel which fits this photo.

      • December 23, 2015 at 11:55 pm
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        Oh. Is the novel worth reading?

        • December 25, 2015 at 3:37 am
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          It’s pretty solid. Alan Dean Foster is always a good read. I have the audible and ebook version. It fills in some details here and there.

  • December 23, 2015 at 6:44 pm
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    How would Finn have got the lightsaber then if Maz didn’t hand it over until later? Half the dialog of her that we got in the trailers didn’t end up in the film, even recent things like TV spots that have the “let it in” line. The film seemed so action packed I wish they would have cut some of the pointless action and focused on character interactions outside of action a bit more. We didn’t need rathtars. We didn’t need death gangs. We didn’t need Kanjiklub. We could have used more of Maz and Leah as they will actually be in future movies.

    • December 23, 2015 at 7:37 pm
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      Finn had the lightsaber because Han gave it to him after Maz gave it to Han…

      • December 23, 2015 at 9:27 pm
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        Incorrect. Maz handed it to Finn.

        And I agree with Benjamin that the rathtar seen is my least favorite in the movie. I timed my bathroom break on my third viewing to be during that scene. The rest of the movie is awesome, though!

        • December 23, 2015 at 11:56 pm
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          What I liked about the rathar scene is that it builds on the theme of how Finn and Rey carne for each other.

        • December 24, 2015 at 12:55 am
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          Okay, okay! I’ve seen it a week ago once!Just rewatched it.

      • December 23, 2015 at 11:54 pm
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        No, Maz gave the lightsaber directly to Finn, not to Han. I wonder if there is also a deleted Maz/Finn acene as rumored.

        • December 24, 2015 at 12:55 am
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          right… I just rewatched it. a week passed fast.

    • December 23, 2015 at 11:52 pm
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      Without the rathars, how would Han et al have escaped from the gangs ? And it was one of the gangs that informed the First Order that Rey, Finn and BB8 were aboard the Falcon with Solo.

      Despite being action packed, all interactions between the characters are meaningful in TFA, even if it is just a quck look, a hug, a cry or a facial expression. By contrast, GL wrote hours of dialogue between Anakin and Padme, or Anakin and Obi-Wan in the orequels and the audience feels absolutely nothing.

    • December 24, 2015 at 8:30 am
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      I loved Han’s interactions with the gangs. I thought it was hilarious.

    • December 24, 2015 at 2:35 pm
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      According to The Sun (a half-way reputable source), JJ actually thought that Nyong’o failed to deliver as a motion capture actor and that she was uncomfortable doing mo-cap. He’s issued denials, but I’m pretty sure he would feel obligated to do that. I wouldn’t say her acting was bad in the movie, but there wasn’t really a lot to go on. My feeling is that Hollywood is going to have to have a subset of actors like Serkis who are especially trained and specialized in mo-cap, because it really is nothing like normal movie acting. If anything, it is more like theatre.

      • December 24, 2015 at 7:15 pm
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        That was a fake story that the Sun fell for, it originated with the fakingstarwars site.

  • December 23, 2015 at 7:05 pm
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    I want to see and extended version of Episode 7 on blu-ray.

    • December 23, 2015 at 9:06 pm
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      be careful what you wish for…not all extended editions are improvements over their films

      • December 24, 2015 at 1:26 am
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        I don’t think they are necessarily intended to….

    • December 23, 2015 at 9:08 pm
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      I imagine that is actually the plan, given that Disney is the leading expert on the Marketing Machine and selling merchandise. So in the same way that the OT was released on VHS, then DVD, then as Special Editions, then as Blu-Ray, for VII, I expect we’ll see DVD release, Blu-Ray, then Blu-Ray Collector’s Edition etc. etc. Either way, I’ll be holding out for the version that has all the deleted scenes before making a purchase.

    • December 23, 2015 at 9:20 pm
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      I want the original trilogy on blu-ray IN THE ORIGINAL CINEMATIC FORM. Sorry…had to get that off my chest. I feel better now…

      • December 23, 2015 at 11:31 pm
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        I think Disney and Lucasfilm will come around eventually.

      • December 24, 2015 at 4:09 pm
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        Do a search for Star Wars Despecialized Edition. It is glorious.

      • December 25, 2015 at 1:39 am
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        Just buy the laserdisc version on eBay along with a laserdisc player. $100 for all. Well worth it. Original cut on digital!

        • December 25, 2015 at 1:41 am
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          A group of us watched these right before we saw VII and it was a lot of fun. There are even some dialogue changes, like Han says “trust me” instead of “I can see a lot better” during Sarlaac pit when he shoots the tentacle off of Lando. “Trust me” was way better line because it shows a moment of development of their relationship since ESB.

    • December 24, 2015 at 12:06 am
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      If it’s free, sure.

      Not paying for it.

  • December 23, 2015 at 7:54 pm
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    Rey should have ignited that lightsaber first. Would have been much more powerful a moment.

    • December 23, 2015 at 9:19 pm
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      Interesting. However…I gotta respectfully disagree. I thought it made it more impactful when she finally DOES take hold of it…to me it made it more of a surprise. Just my opinion.

  • December 23, 2015 at 9:19 pm
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    I’m still surprised there were missing action set pieces/sequences… that’s the one thing I assumed they would’ve nailed.

  • December 24, 2015 at 12:06 am
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    JJ, maybe you can put in the missing film that actually makes sense and explains why the main character is so powerful and shows why the villain should be feared.

    Can’t wait to see it.

  • December 24, 2015 at 2:36 am
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    I understand why they had to cut it down, but if they would have added 10-15 minutes of thought provoking dialogue and action (which the book definitely has) then I wouldn’t have minded it at all. It didn’t feel long or short. Just a tad rushed towards the end.

    I wish they would have scrapped the damn Starkiller Base idea and showed more of Finn, Rey, Han and Chewy together. More scenes with the Resistence and X-wings versus TIE fighters would have been nice. More scenes of Kylo/Hux/Phasma/Snoke engaging one another too. Luke should have had one line that left us guessing. Although the range of emotions on his and Rey’s face at the end made it clear to me they were possibly communicating to each other using the force.

  • December 24, 2015 at 4:02 am
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    his editors suck ass

  • December 24, 2015 at 12:43 pm
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    I would have liked more scenes on the ground of Starkiller Base. Like how Finn and Rey stole the snow speeder from snowtroopers before unlocking the doors for Han and Chewie.

  • December 26, 2015 at 10:41 pm
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    Don’t worry there will be special editions and alternate directors cuts to be had, any guesses how many not counting 3d and 2d, I say at least 3

    • December 28, 2015 at 2:48 am
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      JJ doesn’t do alternate cuts.

  • December 28, 2015 at 10:38 pm
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    Needs to be a deleted scene of Luke and Rey talking. All I wanted was one line

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