Star Wars: J.J. Abrams on Episode VIII

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In the latest round of pre-release publicity, J.J Abrams has been chatting about what drew him to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Han Solo’s return to the franchise and just what’s in store for Rian Johnson, the writer/director of Star Wars: Episode VIII.

So just what brought Abrams to a galaxy far, far away?

“We wanted to tell a story that had its own self-contained beginning, middle, and end but at the same time, like A New Hope, implied a history that preceded it and also hinted at a future to follow

“…In that first movie, Luke wasn’t necessarily the son of Vader, he wasn’t necessarily the brother of Leia, but it was all possible. The Force Awakens has this incredible advantage, not just of a passionate fan base but also of a backstory that is familiar to a lot of people".

He added that they approached the film ‘in a very organic way’ and that the new characters meant they could avoid the usual pitfalls of big movie reboots.

He teased too how Harrison Ford is approaching his return as Han Solo. "It was important that Han Solo be Han Solo but not feel like he’s playing a 30-year-old dude. When you’re 70, you will have lived a different set of experiences. That has to be apparent in who he is. Harrison was required to bring a level of complexity that a 30-year-old Han wouldn’t be required to have"

And finally, while he isn’t directing the film himself, he has sown the seeds of Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII – and not just because he’s an Executive Producer on the film.

He revealed that they've been meeting with Rian Johnson and producer Ram Bergman. "They were watching dailies when we were shooting our movie. We wanted them to be part of the process, to make the transition to their film as seamless as possible. I showed Rian an early cut of the movie, because I knew he was doing his rewrite and prepping".

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens 17th December 2015.

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