Filmmaker Jordan Vogt-Roberts On Why He Loves Star Wars

https://twitter.com/robtornoe/status/538473303934263296Jordan Vogt-Roberts is one of the most exciting new filmmakers. We loved his Amblin-esque indie coming of age film The Kings Of Summer, which was a breakout film at Sundance a couple years back. Jordan is currently developing a big screen adaptation of the video game Metal Gear Solid as well as Legendary Pictures' King Kong prequel/sequel/reboot Skull Island.

Like many of the rest of us, Jordan spent this holiday weekend thinking about Star Wars and geeking out over the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. He took to Twitter to share a story about his love of Star Wars. I try to explain to people why the year or two experience leading up to The Phantom Menace was still worth it despite the film not living up to expectations. Jordan shares the magic and power of the fan community, explaining it much better than I could. Read the Jordan Vogt-Roberts Star Wars story in full after the jump.

Here is Jordan Vogt-Roberts on Why He Loves Star Wars from his twitter account:

Honestly, the Star Wars teaser could have been set to black and the reprise of the Sarlacc Pit score would have been enough for me. Excited. God dammit. I can't stop watching The Force Awakens trailer. What is love? Love is spotting and translating the Aurebesh on Oscar Isaac's rebel jacket in the Star Wars trailer as "Pull to inflate".

Seems like it's that time again to watch the Star Wars trailer. See you guys later. I'm obsessed with the color grade & VFX integration in The Force Awakens trailer. The official stills look like gorgeous painted concept art.

Ok, here's a story from when my best friends and I camped out in Michigan for Episode I to buy out tickets that will always stay with me. The theatre wouldn't let people onto their property until 8am, so legions of Star Wars fans were forced to congregate in the adjacent lot. It was like burning man for Star Wars nerds. People waited all through the night, playing with lightsabers & beaming with hope for the movie. Because the theatre wouldn't let people line up on their property until the morning, some people in the camp decided to organize a list. Suddenly they had too much power & were the lone arbiters of who arrived first. A nasty Empire / Rebel Alliance split was formed in the camp. The theatre managers eventually came out and met with the shady list holders. A massive meeting was underway. Diplomats were involved.

We waited with baited breath. Then a decision had been made. The theatre manager yelled out to the masses "WE WILL NOT HONOR YOUR LIST!!!!" Everyone erupted in applause as if the Death Star itself had been destroyed and Yavin IV was safe. It was an incredible moment. The theatre manager explained that everyone would slowly be able to WALK to the theatre and form a line when he said so. It was anyone's game at this point. The list had been discarded and any spot in line was up for grabs. The pressure was on to secure a spot. The theatre manager shouted that we could slowly walk across the parking lot and form a line at the box office. That was a massive oversight.

The trek across the parking lot started slow. Then people started eying each other. We waited our whole lives for this. The pace increased. It turned from a walk, to a jog, to a full on sprint as everyone stormed across the parking lot. People were getting trampled and falling. It was awesome. My friends and I made our way near the front and caught our breath knowing we'd never forget that run. We spent the rest of the day taking to the people in line. We were likely the youngest people there but we made friends fast via Star Wars.

We finally got our tickets and it seemed like all was right in the world. That's how I feel now with his new trailer. There's raw hope. It's hard to explain to someone who didn't fall into the cult of Star Wars at a young age why it's so important. But it shaped me. All grand philosophical reasons & my love of film history & it's power as an art form aside: Star Wars is why I make movies. It changed me.

People now don't understand what it was like to get ostracized for loving Videogames, Comics, Star Wars, Magic the Gathering. It's different. I wasn't ready to invest myself when the announcement was made regarding new movies. I had been hurt too bad. But now I feel like that kid running across that parking lot with my best friends ready to meet people who shared a love of something sacred.

So, after watching that teaser this is my long way of saying: I'm all in. Bring on the scoundrels and never tell me the odds! I don't have a bad feeling about this. I'd rather dream that this new wave might not be a moon at all – But instead a glorious space station I'll shut up now. That was supposed to just be a story about the line for tickets but then I got emotional about Star Wars as a whole.

Star Wars Episode 8 director Rian Johnson responded to the Jordan Vogt-Roberts Star Wars story: