How J.J. Abrams Went Renegade For ‘Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker,’ Which He Says Is About “The Promise Of The Future”
With theStar Warsfilms constantly changing hands from director to director, it’s difficult for some filmmakers to be beholden to fan expectations.
J.J. Abrams, who returns to directStar Wars: Rise of Skywalkerafter introducing the sci-fi franchise to a new generation withStar Wars: The Force Awakens, is feeling that pressure, especially on the heels of the rule-breaking, fandom-dividing film that was Rian Johnson’sStar Wars: The Last Jedi. And while some are concerned that he may fall back on the rosy nostalgia that madeThe Force Awakenssuch a mammoth success, Abrams hints that he might be going rogue with the final film in the Skywalker Saga.
When J.J. Abrams revived theStar Warsfranchise withStar Wars: The Force Awakensin 2015, it had been 10 years since aStar Warsfilm and 32 years since audiences had last seen the beloved original characters on the big screen. Expectations were high, and Abrams was able to gracefully walk that line withEpisode 7, which was praised for its homages to the first trilogy while introducing a whole new generation of characters. But coming intoThe Rise of Skywalker, those old characters have fallen away, one by one, leaving the focus simply on the new generation. And with that shift, Abrams felt more free to make aStar Warsmovie how he wants to.
“[O]n seven, I felt beholden toStar Warsin a way that was interesting—I was doing what to the best of my ability I feltStar Warsshould be,“Abrams toldVanity Fairin anin-depth cover storyaboutThe Rise of Skywalker. But that changes withEpisode 9, he said:
“Working on nine, I found myself approaching it slightly differently… It felt slightly more renegade; it felt slightly more like, you know, Fuck it, I’m going to do the thing that feels right because it does, not because it adheres to something.”
The Rise of Skywalkerwill not “long for the past; they’re more about the promise of the future,” Vanity Fair notes, with the “young generation, this new generation, having to deal with all the debt that has come before,” Abrams said. He added:
It seems like Abrams is taking to heart one of the most famous lines from Johnson’s divisiveThe Last Jedi: “Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to.” As different as Johnson’s revolutionary approach to theStar Warsfranchise was compared to Abrams' nostalgia-infusedThe Force Awakens, Abrams said he was actually emboldened by the big swings that Johnson took. “Having seen what Rian did made me approach this from a place of instinct and gut,” Abrams toldVanity Fair. “I was making choices I knew I would not have made onVII,some story-wise, but more in terms of directing. I found myself feeling less like I’m going to try and do something that feels like it’s [only] true to the specifics of this franchise or the story.”
But for fans worried about whether Abrams taking creative liberties like Johnson would result in a fractured Skywalker saga, don’t worry. Abrams revealed that in meetings withThe Force Awakensand original trilogy writerLawrence Kasdanas well as Rian Johnson and George Lucas, they settled on an ending that was specifically designed to bring the nine-film series to a satisfying conclusion. “If a kid is watching all nine movies,” Abrams said, “he or she sees this one path, this inevitability and that’s the challenge of this movie.”
