J.J. Abrams Wishes He Were Directing STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII
J.J. Abrams did a helluva job with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but he didn't want to take on the task of directing Episode VIII. That job ended up going to Looper director Rian Johnson, who is currently developing it. Turns out Abrams regrets his decision not to direct Episode VIII, and he wishes that he were making it.
This bit of news came from Abrams' lifelong friend Greg Grunberg, who has a small role in The Force Awakens. During an interview with The Washington Post, he said:
"He read it and said something he never, ever says. He said: ‘It’s so good, I wish I were making it.’ “He may have said something one time on Lost, with Damon [Lindelof, the co-creator], but I never hear him express regret like that.”
That's saying a lot. That says to me this upcoming film will probably be even better The Force Awakens. Why else would he express his regret like that? When Johnson was brought on board, I knew the eighth chapter in the saga would be something special. Johnson is such a great storyteller and writer.
Abrams has no plans to direct another Star Wars film at this point, but that could change somewhere down the line. He will stay on as a producer, though. In a previous interview with Abrams, he talked about Johnson's script:
"When Rian, who I admire enormously and adore, came on board, we met and talked with him about all the things we were working on and playing with, and he as a spectacular writer and director has taken those things and has written an AMAZING script that I think will be an incredible next chapter, some of which incorporating things we were thinking of and other things are things we could never of dreamed of."
Episode VIII will be released on May 26th, 2017, and I can't wait to see where they take the story next!