The Force is strong in director J.J. Abrams
He’s the right choice to head ‘Episode IX’
This was the director they were looking for. Again.
For the second time, J.J. Abrams has been tapped for the biggest film gig in Hollywood: first to write and direct 2015’s
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the huge return of the storied franchise (and what would become the top-grossing film of all time) and now to helm the finale for the trilogy he launched,
Star Wars: Episode IX.
The job opened up last week when Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow parted ways. That Abrams is taking over as Ron Howard replaces Phil Lord and Chris Miller on the young Han Solo spinoff makes it clear the
Star Wars galaxy wants veteran filmmakers and is no longer willing to gamble. Having Star Wars: The Last
Jedi director Rian Johnson continue the saga seemed to me the smartest course of action last week, but he’s probably still in the throes of post-production. It would have been very cool to hire a woman such as Ava DuVernay, Lorene Scafaria or Kathryn Bigelow to direct, or tap Guillermo del Toro or Alfonso Cuarón to end the parade of white guys. That day will come.
But with the tumult around recent choices, Disney and the House That George Lucas Built couldn’t afford to take a risk with
Episode IX, the one that will wrap the tale that launched Daisy Ridley’s Rey, John Boyega’s Finn and Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron and put Star Wars back on the map in impressive fashion. With the clock ticking down to its Dec. 20, 2019, release date and shareholders to please, it’s understandable.
So, yes, Abrams was the safe pick. Many will say too safe. He’s also a visionary who has been in the trenches of a Star Wars movie. There’s an inherent loyalty there: When nerves got the best of Ridley and she felt she shouldn’t be on the Force Awakens set, “J.J. definitely brought out the best performance I could have given,” she told me two years ago. The movie will benefit from that shorthand.
Abrams received some flak for following the structure of the first
Star Wars movie: another youngster finding his/her way, another planetary destruction, another Death Star. Yet it’s a template that, obviously, still works, and Abrams is about telling new stories as well, such as Boyega’s Storm troop er turned-hero, and putting a woman at the heart of the biggest cinematic series of all time.
More important, though: Abrams respects Star Wars. He saw the first one when he was 11 and has been a fan ever since. If there’s anybody who knows how to handle the loss of Carrie Fisher in canon, it’s him.
I’ll always remember the time, two years ago in New York, when Abrams pulled out his phone and said, “You have to see this.” It wasn’t a forbidden sneak peek at a scene. It was a video of his first time in a scoring session with the legendary John Williams, and the excitement as his face beamed with pride was infectious.
The key to doing a Star Wars movie is going with your gut, he told me that day. “When you’re working on the story, you go, ‘Oooooh, that feels so right.’ ”
And so does the return of this Jedi.