Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm and announced that 2015 will feature Star Wars Episode VII, the rumour mill has been churning about likely directors for the film. From Fight Club’s David Fincher to Iron Man’s Jon Favreau, the pool of names has been a deep one. This all changed on Friday when Disney announced that the Franchise will be in the hands of the one and only J.J. Abrams.
J.J. Abrams has become a household name with directorial credits including Lost, Alias, Mission Impossible III and a variety of other projects. In 2009 Abrams proved he has what it takes to re-ignite the fire of a science fiction series when he successfully brought the Star Trek franchise back from near-extinction. With the next chapter in Star Trek (Star Trek Into Darkness) set to release this year, some fans are wondering if it’s possible for one person to be the driving force behind two of the biggest named sci-fi franchises in history.
Since the announcement some fans of both universes have expressed concerns. In 2009 Abrams created great controversy with some Trekkies when the film essentially re-wrote 40 years of Star Trek history with one 127 minute film. Although controversial, the film generally received praise and did what Paramount Pictures wanted – rebooted the franchise and made them money. With such success in Star Trek, fans can’t help but wonder if Star Wars continuity will be as big of a focus for Disney as it was for George Lucas. Some Federations-fans are worried too since Abrams has long been vocal about his love for Star Wars while growing up. This Abrams-fandom was reiterated during Disney’s announcement when he was quoted as saying “I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid.” With so much love for Star Wars, the question has to be asked of how much devotion to Star Trek can remain in the Abrams mind. In any case, it looks like “Star” fans of all kinds have an exciting few years ahead of them.
Ehhh, I am not enthused. I’m sure it will be great but there are a lot of awesome directors. We’re going to burn out JJ Abrams if we rely on him too much. Brad Bird would be an awesome choice.
This seems like a safe play for SW VII and I’m ok with it. There’s plenty of space (pun intended) for them to play with given Disney’s plan to release new films every few years and a lot of potential for new minds to shine with all the side projects they’re working on. I don’t want to see Star Wars become an Abrams exclusive (same with Trek), but I’m definitely excited for this.
JJ Abrams is a good pick. I was hoping for Brad Bird as well. But I think he should do good with this flick. I wonder if they locked him in for all 3 or just the next 1.