Abrams Directing Star Wars

[Nagisa Furukawa]

I'm sorry, who the hell gets their feelings hurt by some director they've never met saying something in the press about a movie he's making?

The reasons are irrelevant to me. I personally didn't care one jot about what he said, it didn't bother me at all. It DID bother me to hear that it was needed and a good thing that their feelings got hurt. Even if it's over something I personally think is silly or slight, I'd never say that about another human being. It's simply unnecessary.

Making clear that the movie is aimed at entertaining as many people as possible is part of getting the necessary message out there to the people who need to be attracted to it.

It takes about half a second to think of a way to say all of this in a way that isn't nearly so confrontational about a group of people.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Then when it's your turn to address such an issue you may say it in the way you prefer.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Star Wars fans are just the same if not worse. I mean, at least most Star Trek fans were happy with the latest Trek movie.

Star Wars fans have only have complained about the quality of the product and never about some misguided notion that the product was some phantom writ of their own creation.

 

[Greg Cox]

Star Trek needed that to be said since there was a low point. Star Wars never had a low point, it doesn't need to be said. It was already made for a lot of people.

Of course, there might need to be some statements regarding the prequels.

It was said because Star Trek fans exhibit an unusual level of entitlement, and Abrams was demonstrating he had no obligation to pander to them. It was a political thing to say.

Actually, I think even that's overstating it. The way I see it, he wasn't try to distance himself from us at all. He was just working hard to convince the rest of the world that, no, really, this new movie isn't just for hardcore Trekkies. Nor should it have been.

Which, yes, was a message that really needed to be communicated to the general public at that point.

Of course, I also think that "This is not your father's STAR TREK" was an absolutely brilliant bit of marketing, and yet some folks around were annoyed by that too--even though that tagline was clearly aimed at the general audience and not us.

Again, the movie is what matters in the end, not the marketing, and not whether our fannish egos were flattered or bruised.

It's nothing personal.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It's just business, as Clemenza would say.

Guess J.J. better finish up Star Wars so he can get to Godfather Part IV.

 

[Nagisa Furukawa]

Star Wars fans have only have complained about the quality of the product and never about some misguided notion that the product was some phantom writ of their own creation.

Um... I assume this is a joke. The "... raped my childhood!" meme your sig references began with people saying it about Lucas. While I've met plenty of cool Star Wars fans, some of the most entitled things I've ever heard were about Lucas.

No fandom is different really. All the types of people on various sides and to varying degrees of how strongly they're arguing in this thread can be found on Gallifrey Base or an anime forum or whatever. The product is irrelevant; the ways in which fans act is the same across the board. Pretty much the only exception are sports fans; while (again) there are plenty of nice people who happen to like sports, there's (especially in Europe) a level of violence and physical destruction that isn't found in Internet nerds.

 

[YARN]

Then when it's your turn to address such an issue you may say it in the way you prefer.

I think he just did.

 

[Greg Cox]

It's just business, as Clemenza would say.

Guess J.J. better finish up Star Wars so he can get to Godfather Part IV.

Nah, I want a LOGAN'S RUN reboot first . . . .

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Nah, J.J. is the man to get Ghostbusters III off the ground...finally.

 

[Set Harth]

there's (especially in Europe) a level of violence and physical destruction that isn't found in Internet nerds.

That's because Internet nerds aren't in physical proximity to one another. Get 'em in a stadium and see what happens.

 

[Greg Cox]

Nah, J.J. is the man to get Ghostbusters III off the ground...finally.

Not until he brings back Barbarella!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

He can write her into the Forbidden Planet remake.

 

[SeerSGB]

I'm happy for him. He's a SW fan, and he's getting a shot at the "big game". Good for him.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I'm thinking they're trying to get the most out of the science fiction buck these days and trying to turn Star Trek fans into Star Wars fans and visa versa.

They want the two fandoms to be interchangeable so both studios get the most out of the sci-fi fans wallets.

You're wrong. Paramount has no interest in using Star Trek to help Disney make money on Star Wars, and the Mouse didn't buy Star Wars with plans to promote Star Trek.

 

[lurok]

SW fans should count themselves lucky

 

[Ssosmcin]

At least Star Wars won't suck anymore. Maybe we'll get back to that "original trilogy" level of fun and quality (Return of the Jedi notwithstanding). As for Star Trek, if Paramount is okay with the wait, Abrams will probably direct the third film. But if he wants to do his own personal projects in between, that wait might be too long in their eyes. So being the producer with an approved director would be the way to go. I'd be okay with that.

Honestly, I think this is win-win.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

If the next Star Wars film is due for release in 2015, then principal photography will take place in 2014 - Abrams could move on to directing another film in 2015 while supervising post production on Star Wars.

Mind you, he's not being brought into Star Wars to "reboot" or otherwise reshape it. He's being hired to direct one film, already written, in a series that they're evidently talking to other directors about continuing.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

"Entertainment Weekly" is saying it has confirmed the story in "The Wrap".

"The New York Times" is reporting it, too, but they just draw from "The Wrap" story.

The "LA Times" say they've confirmed it.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/01/24/j-j-abrams-star-wars-director/


http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/j-j-abrams-to-direct-next-star-wars-movie/

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2013/01/24/j-j-abrams-set-to-direct-star-wars-episode-vii/

So ... not really confirmed. It's not confirmed unless there's a direct quote from someone with knowledge about the entire situation. As a former journalist, I wouldn't even use anonymous sources. If I can't use your name and quote you, then I didn't print it. Never lost a scoop because of that policy, by the way.

Burnett on Twitter:

Let's hope this marks a return to the expansion of intellectual excellence and optimism which used to be a hallmark of the TREK franchise.

The guy's got no taste or judgment whatever. Grow the hell up.

Yeah, he's been on the interview circuit on that tip. Burnett's done a great job on all the special features —*well, with the exception of shoehorning Seth McFarlane into the interviews — but he sees TREK through fanboy googles.

When TREK tried to be those things overtly, like TMP and parts of TNG, it failed miserably. It failed to be drama about characters who overcome their own weaknesses and triumph in the face of adversity.

That's what made it optimistic. That we know our failings yet strive to move beyond them. Not that pedantic Utopia crap. The optimism was that man would survive into the future, still struggle to be better and, occasionally, be more than that.

TREK is at its best when it tells stories about the human condition with a healthy dose of action-adventure. Like Abrams' movie, TWOK and many episodes of the original.

Maybe we'll get something billed as Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek.

Now that's something I'd pay to see.

Nah, J.J. is the man to get Ghostbusters III off the ground...finally.

Not until he brings back Barbarella!

Nah, let Abrams reboot BABYLON 5.

 

[Ro_Laren]

If the next Star Wars film is due for release in 2015, then principal photography will take place in 2014 - Abrams could move on to directing another film in 2015 while supervising post production on Star Wars.

Mind you, he's not being brought into Star Wars to "reboot" or otherwise reshape it. He's being hired to direct one film, already written, in a series that they're evidently talking to other directors about continuing.

That's what I was thinking... and they could release the next Trek film on December 31, 2006. That would make it so that it is technically being released in time for the 50 year anniversary. At the same time, I still won't be suprised if Paramount doesn't release the next Trek film in 2016.

IMO, it would have been better if JJ never said that he wouldn't direct the next SW film out of loyalty to Trek fans. He set himself up and can now look to some as if he isn't being loyal to Trek fans. Of course, this is just gonna make the ST vs. SW rivalry even more heated!!

 

[Ryan8bit]

Star Wars fans have only have complained about the quality of the product and never about some misguided notion that the product was some phantom writ of their own creation.

Um... I assume this is a joke. The "... raped my childhood!" meme your sig references began with people saying it about Lucas. While I've met plenty of cool Star Wars fans, some of the most entitled things I've ever heard were about Lucas.

Exactly. Tons of fan edits of the prequels exist. And let's not forget all the Greedo shooting first outrage.