J.J. Abrams Discusses His DC Film Slate and His Focus on Original Projects as a Director
As you know, J.J. Abrams is producing several DC film projects for Warner Bros. such as Justice League Dark and Superman. The filmmaker is working hard with the creative teams on these projects making sure the films will end up being stories that the fans will love and enjoy. He talks about these projects and explains why they are a double-edged sword. He also reveals that he doesn’t plan on directing any of these DC films, he’d like to focus his directing attention to original film projects.
In an interview with Collider, Abrams opened up about the difficult balance in producing beloved IP based on his past experience:
“Well, I'll say that the opportunity to get to work on any pre-existing franchise is definitely a double-edged sword. And while I'm incredibly grateful and proud to have been involved in the projects, of course, all I see is what things could have been and what we might have done. The importance of it is not lost on me, as temporary custodians of any ideas, whether they pre-exist us or not, which is to say I think that even with an original idea, somehow I still don't quite understand where that creative impulse comes from and how the experience of writing something really is yours. I feel like we're all just channeling something that we're trying to serve, as opposed to something that we are doing and that is our work.”
Abrams went on to say that while it’s an honor working on these kinds of projects, it’s really all about telling a great story, which he dropped the ball on with Star Wars. I’m not as big a fan of Abrams since that last Star Wars movie was released. I was actually a big fan of his before that, but it was just such weak storytelling. Thankfully, he’s going to focus on original stories as he moves forward as a director, which is great. He explains:
“I know that Hollywood is a place where it used to be that people would be inspired by something that they would see or an old film or a show or something and think, ‘Oh, here's my response to that. Here's a version of that that.’ It's become a place where, more often than not, you see something and people get inspired by it and go, ‘Let's redo that exact thing.’ I feel like, as someone who started writing in television and telling original stories on film and in TV, it is something that I really do miss. The few things that I'm working on now, as a writer, are original ideas. I just feel, as a director, I really would love to have my next projects be things that didn't pre-exist me necessarily.”
It’ll be interesting to see what kinds of original stories that he has planned! The last time he directed an original film was in 2011 with the movie Super 8, which I loved.