UPDATE: Lucasfilm has denied the report. “There is no truth to the rumor,” a company spokesman told TheForce.Net. “JJ is having a great time working on the script and is looking forward to going into production next year.” Our original post is below.
Badass Digest is reporting that J.J. Abrams may be dropping out of Episode VII. They write:
…Why is it that I keep hearing tons of rumors that JJ Abrams is on the verge of dropping out of Star Wars? This has been something I’ve heard for a while now, and from multiple insiders. I know that he didn’t want to shoot the movie in England and was overruled, but that happened a while ago. This weekend at Comic Con I continued to hear these whispers. No director for Trek 3 has been found yet – might Abrams end up coming back after all, leaving Star Wars to someone else?
Big Shiny Robot is doubtful and so am I… After all, wouldn’t arrangements to film in England have already been in the works when he was signing on? Wouldn’t it have been a topic of discussion before he signed on the dotted line?
This could be nothing more than runaway fanboy paranoia at work, and it would be a big, public hit for Bad Robot, whether last week’s red scripts are Star Wars or not. But I do agree we should wait and see what comes out of Celebration Europe.
It wouldn’t break my heart if he dropped out. He was never my pick, but I’d sort of resigned myself to it being him…But if there really have already been issues, I would much rather see LFL/Disney find someone with less on their plate and more dedication to the project.
maybe somebody saw Star Trek Into Darkness and was disappointed in Abrams…
eyeroll
If Pabawan doesn’t chime in on this, I’m guessing it could be true.
I’m going with bogus. Pablo Hidalgo tweeted about “hoping the internet comes to a consenus on the lastest rumor.” I just saw this post and I can only assume this what he was talking about. Said his final slide in his D23 presentation depends on it or something.
I’d link to the tweet, but no access to Twitter from work computers
Devin Faraci only has contempt for Star Wars fans. The dude would throw a fit at CHUD about it all the time.
The guy has headlines on his site like “Devin gets very spoilery as he explains why STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS is a dumb, bad movie.” He is not respectful in any way.
He would report this news just to troll fandom and get hits. Mostly to get hits.
I’m not saying it is true either way. I just highly doubt it. It seems impossible and unlikely at this stage. But that wouldn’t stop them from running that story.
From everything I’ve read from people who should be in a position to know, this is not true.
Rumor is that we’re getting casting news and a video message from JJ during Kathy Kennedy’s panel this weekend.
What if I chime in in an incredibly unhelpful way? Like asking rhetorically about chiming in?
As the old saying goes: Every time Pablo chimes, a Sharknado gets its fins.
“Um, hi. I recently read about the rumor that the movie will be shot with exploding cameras, which would put it at great risk. Can you confirm or deny this?”
Shush, Pablo. We can’t risk having Michael Bay hear about them. The surprise would be RUINED.
“Some friends at SDCC got together and were saying that the movie will likely be filmed on disappearing/reappearing film to maintain secrecy. The only problem is it might not reappear in time for the 2015 release. Confirm/deny?”
Exploding cameras, you say? Ah, the limitless possibilities. Just take Jaws: You could have filmed inside the shark and BOOM… *startswritingscript*