Sci-Fi Director J.J. Abrams has recently opened up about the thrill, and apparent burden, that directing the upcoming Stars Wars: The Force Awakens has been. As it turns out, the experience is more relatable than we thought.
Last night, Abrams paired up with Stephen Colbert at an event named Celebrity Nerd Off in Newark, NJ, supporting the Montclair Film Festival. In the Q&A portion of the event Abrams got to be candid about the great responsibility that directing the new Star Wars film has been- personifying the film as a roommate. Variety reports that Abrams described his relationship with the Star Wars roommate, saying:
It’s time for him to get his own place. It’s been great and I can’t tell you how much I want him to get out into the world and meet other people because we know each other really well. But really, ‘Star Wars’ is bigger than all of us. So I’m thrilled beyond words (to be involved) and terrified more than I can say.
Seems like quite the apartment to be living in. With hype slowly growing since the announcement of Abrams' involvement in 2013, as well as his dual role as co-writer and director of the film, it’s surely been a lot to take responsibility for. And with Star Wars famously keeping secrets and containing major plot twists, Abrams has had to keep quietly working for years in order to preserve the culmination of decades of franchise secret keeping.
Star Wars was first brought to audiences in 1977 with Episode IV: A New Hope and has never failed to capture attention and adoration for generations since. The original trilogy was a huge commercial success, and helped change the science-fiction genre moving forward. Part of that success was built on moments like The Empire Strikes Back revealing Darth Vader’s relationship to protagonist Luke Skywalker, cementing itself as one of the WTF moments of the decade. This also set a new precedent for plot twists, which would carry on throughout the rest of the franchise's run.
News of J.J. Abrams' role as director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was originally a controversial one, proving to be quite the twist itself. With his previous work on the Star Trek reboots, it scared fans to have the two franchises so closely related. But fear of lens-flares quickly faded as footage and images of the upcoming film were slowly released, and with learning that the original actors would be reprising their roles as the holy nerd trinity of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia.
I can see where Abrams’ exhaustion is coming from. His Force Awakens roommate has a lot of skeletons in their shared closet. Even though we’re about a month from the film’s release, there are still a myriad of secrets fans are dying to know. With huge question marks, like Mark Hamill’s notable absence from any of the materials released so far, it seems like the roommate is here to stay. At least until December 18th, when Star Wars: The Force Awakens unveils its secrets to the world.
