Stop the presses, hold all my calls, cancel my appointments … turn off the Internet! J.J. Abrams said the words Star Wars in an official interview, which mean The Force is about to explode all over every geek movie site you read on an hourly basis (ours, included).
Before you get too carried away, however, let’s go over what Abrams said about Star Wars: Episode VII in his conversation with EW.com. The director met with the mag at Bad Robot headquarters to promote the television show he’s backing, Almost Human. But he allowed a few Star Wars questions, and gave a few honest (but expected) answers.
When addressing the spirit and tone of his upcoming Episode VII, and which previous Star Wars movie it might be compared with, Abrams said:
“Impossible for me to say because it’s going to be an evolving thing. I would say we are working really hard to make a movie that feels as emotional and authentic and exciting as possible. Whatever your favorite Star Wars movie is and how to compare it is really sort of subjective.”
As to the staggering amount of “helpful” suggestions that have been flowing in from fans, critics and more with regards to what they want Abrams to do with Episode VII, the director offered:
“It’s been nice see that how important it is and to be reminded how important it is to so many people. We all know that [creator George Lucas'] dream has become almost a religion to some people. I remember reading a thing somewhere, someone wrote about just wanting [the new film] to feel real; to feel authentic. I remember I felt that way when I was 11 years old when I saw the first one. As much of a fairy tale as it was, it felt real. And to me, that is exactly right.”
So you see? Not much at all. He throws the word “real” around a lot. Which is fine. It backs up this sentiment that Abrams is going to counter the digital chilliness of Lucas’ prequel trilogy with the promise of practical effects. And that’s a nice thing to say at this stage of the game. It makes people feel like Abrams is taking the right approach … and if you watched any of the behind-the-scenes features on his Star Trek movies, you know what focus Abrams has on his sets, props and visuals.
What concerns me, however, is the fact that – “real” or not – we still don’t know when Abrams’ movie is reaching theaters. We don’t know who is in it. We don’t know what story they’re going to try to tell. We don’t know what the title of the movie will be. Does any of this matter if Abrams ultimately delivers a Star Wars movie that rocks us back on our asses? No. Absolutely not. But at this moment, I’m getting tired of hearing vague comments about “real” tones. I want concrete details, and so far, we have few.
