J.J. Abrams was recently part of a Vanity Fair talk with producer Brian Grazer and Apple’s Jony Ive. In addition to telling the story of how he turned it down at first yet again, he also confirms that he has final cut on The Force Awakens – although Disney being Disney, the contract would allow otherwise.
He also praises the Disney folks, saying “I cannot say enough about how Bog Iger and Alan Horn have understood this thing that is now part of the Disney company. And they’re not trying to Disney-fy it, they’re not doing anything other than, I think, an incredibly smart thing, which is letting Kathleen Kennedy — who is a remarkable person and producer — run and lead Lucasfilm to a place where I think it wants to go. They let us make the movie we wanted to make.” (via)
Empire’s movie preview issue, featuring The Force Awakens, is supposedly in mailboxes and on newsstands today, and they’ve revealed the subscriber cover and two new behind-the-scenes shots featuring John Boyega for the occasion.
Legendary poster artist Drew Struzan told Movie Weekly that The Force Awakens is “probably going to be the best Star Wars you’ve ever seen.” Pretty high praise, even from a guy being paid by Lucasfilm. He also talks about how J.J. Abrams called him up, how much of the film he’s seen, his process, and why the lightsaber colors on the Revenge of the Jedi poster were reversed.
→ On that note, a nice, if top-heavy, piece from newcomer The Star Wars Post on if Star Wars 7 News leaking the Luke Skywalker image crossed a spoiler line. I’ll just say that SW7N has never exactly been known for their sound judgement, which is why I tend to warn so profusly when linking them.
Amid the flood of The Force Awakens stuff being found on store shelves, a box was found that had a very specific kind of wording. Could it be movie’s opening crawl? The box images have been removed, but head over to Making Star Wars to read it.
→ It’s not really news, but it’s cute edition: Oscar Isaac was on Live with Kelly Jane Lynch and Michael the other day, and he talked a little about his family’s themed Star Wars parties. And J.J. Abrams talks to Entertainment Weekly about the first time he saw Star Wars.
Entertainment Weekly dropped their last 3 Fall Movie Preview stories today. First up, the reveal of Simon Pegg’s role… Sort of. It’s not so much who he’s playing (“he won’t be recognizable,” J.J. Abrams says) but what he was doing behind the scenes.
“He was a sounding board,” Abrams says. “He would drop by the set because he wanted to, and when he could, he would help… We could talk about things, and he was a perfect combination of incredibly smart screenwriter, fan of the series, critical fan of the series, and friend of mine – but not just blindly supportive. He was an honest, critical friend. And he wasn’t so close to it that he became immune to things. He would come in with fresh eyes and very smart ideas. He’s one of a handful of people along the way that has been really priceless.”
→ EW asks who the film’s “Ralph McQuarrie” is. Abrams points not only to the actual Ralph McQuarrie and his work for the original trilogy, but production designer Rick Carter.
This morning we learned that not only is Kylo Ren the cover boy for Entertainment Weekly’s Fall Movie Preview, but a couple of things about the character himself. And, amazingly? That’s not all. We’ll get to Kylo in a few, but first, the generalities…
→ How did Kathleen Kennedy get Abrams on the hook to direct Episode VII? She asked him, “Who is Luke Skywalker?’” And for a movie that’s shied away from talking about Luke much at all, his presence is certainly felt in EW’s cover story. How have things changed for the classic trio, and how haven’t they? We don’t get many details, but you can certainly read a lot into Lawrence Kasdan’s comments:
“I thought, ‘Wow, okay, these people have lived — they’re in a different place in their lives, Han and Leia and so on. They’ve lived the same 30 years I have. What would that be like? How would you see things differently?’” Kasdan says. “And I was trying to figure out how I saw things differently, and one of the surprises is that you don’t learn all that much. You haven’t become much wiser than you were, and things are not clearer to you, and the world is just as confusing as it always was — and that’s a kind of lovely thing to get to write about again. Age does not necessarily bring wisdom; it just brings experience.”
→ As widely assumed, the lightsaber we see in the second trailer is indeed the one Luke had and lost at Cloud City.
→ There have been rumors that Abrams might return to close out the trilogy, but he shoots those down pretty conclusively: “No, I’m not going to direct Episode IX, as much as I am deeply envious of anyone who gets to work with this group of people on the future movies.”
→ We get a look at several new pictures – some that we’ve seen fuzzy from the conventions (General Hux!) but a couple that are brand new.
→ There’s also a story on the origins of some of the character names – fitting, since Entertainment Weekly was the first to reveal many of them back in December. We get nothing for Finn and Rey – of course their lack of last names are “completely intentional” – though we do get a name for the new alien (played by Kiran Shah) and his ride: Teedo and his luggabeast. Fear not: Poe Dameron, BB-8, General Hux, and Captain Phasma get more details.
→ Now, finally, let’s unpack a few details about our villain. He may or may not be the Darth Vader fanboy we’ve been speculating about, but he is “well aware of what’s come before, and that’s very much a part of the story of the film,” J.J. Abrams told EW. The helmet’s origins will be explained in the film, but it’s left unclear if the nod to Vader is intentional on the part of the character or just the design team. Abrams also confirmed something that’s been long-suspected: The broadsaber was his own creation. It’s “something that he built himself, and is as dangerous and as fierce and as ragged as the character,” Abrams said.
→ Here’s another key quote from Abrams: “As you see in the best of storytelling, and no doubt the best of Star Wars, these are tales in which an everyperson has to step up. And I think that what makes Ren so unique is that he isn’t as fully formed as when we meet a character such as Darth Vader,” Abrams says. “And I think that there are two sides to the Force. Both sides, arguably, would see themselves as the hero of their story, and I think that applies here.”
→ A few more hints, this time from Lawrence Kasdan: “I’ve written four Star Wars movies now, and there’s never been a character quite like the one that Adam plays. I think you’re going to see something that’s brand new to the saga.” How so?
He’s full of emotion. No matter how we express ourselves in the world, whether we hide it and act very calm or whether we’re very out there and demonstrative, everybody’s roiling with emotion. And you want your characters to be that way, too. Then they have to deal with their emotions as best they can, with what they are.
→ Our biggest tangible clue? We now know a little something about the name… The “Ren” part comes from a group called “the Knights of Ren.” Is Kylo his title? How many more Rens are there? (For our spoiler readers: Seven, perhaps?)
And today’s hot rumor is… The Force Awakens’ Blu-ray release date, maybe. It’s April 26, 2016, according to Jedi News. Seems pretty likely, but man it’s weird that we’re already at the point where rumors are dealing with the home releases.
→ There’s a new Adam Driver interview at Esquire. This publicity tour is going to be interesting, that’s for sure.
The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams was on The Daily Show last night – technically to promote Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, which he produced – but he did tell a story from the Star Wars set. Turns out, Harrison Ford wasn’t the only one injured in the door incident… And Abrams has a pretty good Woody Allen impression to go with his Lawrence Kasdan. Who knew?
I’m sure almost all you watched the video of the panel this weekend, but for those who didn’t, here are a few highlights. Nothing here about the behind-the-scenes video, though – that’s an entirely different post.
This morning we learned that not only is Kylo Ren 
