If directing Star Wars movies were like a relay race, J.J. Abrams directed 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens and then passed the baton off to Rian Johnson, leaving Abrams justifiably winded after pulling off an incredibly difficult feat. Johnson went on to direct what is arguably the best Star Wars movie ever with The Last Jedi, but let’s put that aside for the time being. If we continue this metaphor, Abrams was breathing heavily with his hands on his knees, looked up at Johnson running the race in front of him, and thought to himself, “Wait a second…I want to be the one to take this across the finish line.”
So he’s back in the cockpit for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Disney and Lucasfilm have released the first teaser trailer straight from Star Wars Celebration. So watch it right now. Read More »
This week’s Star Wars Celebration promises to unleash a cavalcade of information about a galaxy far, far away, but before that kicks off, we’re turning our attention to a new interview with Star Wars: Episode 9 co-writer/director J.J. Abrams. After original director Colin Trevorrow left the movie, Abrams slid into the director’s chair to wrap up the trilogy he began in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and he talks about battling some intense time constraints, collaborating with an unfamiliar co-writer, and how he thinks he and his team may have something special on their hands for the hugely-anticipated conclusion to the Skywalker saga.
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Colin Trevorrow was all set to helm the last entry in the new Star Wars trilogy. But then everything changed. Trevorrow either left on his own accord, or was fired. In either case, Star Wars: Episode IX needed a new director. Speculation ran rampant. What filmmaker would Disney and Lucasfilm bring in? The answer came quickly, and it was a surprising yet familiar choice: J.J. Abrams. Abrams had helmed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and now he would return to close out the trilogy. But according to the director himself, he came very close to turning the whole thing down.
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In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, hot-headed flyboy Poe Dameron learned some tough lessons about how to be a better leader from General Leia Organa and Vice Admiral Holdo. The Poe Leia relationship in particular, as brought to life by actors Oscar Isaac and Carrie Fisher, was a layered and fascinating one, and even though Fisher is no longer with us, Isaac says that relationship “gets carried over” into this year’s Star Wars: Episode 9.
Read on for his full comments about that, and how his final day shooting the movie was overshadowed by an original trilogy cast member who’s been there since the beginning.
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Last year, Variety reported that former Doctor Who and The Crown actor Matt Smith had joined the cast of J.J. Abrams‘ Star Wars: Episode 9 in a “key role.” But Smith was never included in any of the official Lucasfilm press releases about the final Skywalker saga movie, and now the English actor has denied that he’s involved with the sci-fi sequel. Read his comments below. Read More »
We’re only nine months away from the release of J.J. Abrams‘ Star Wars: Episode 9, but Lucasfilm still hasn’t revealed the title or unveiled any official footage to the public. But the first Episode 9 footage played this morning to a select group of people during a Disney shareholder presentation, and some descriptions have made their way online. Here’s what the shareholders saw. Read More »
Here’s a rumor that will appeal to hardcore Star Wars fans who love to obsess over every minute detail. Word on the galactic street is that the Millennium Falcon is about to get yet another upgrade for Star Wars: Episode IX.
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John Boyega has witnessed some pretty wild things on Star Wars movie sets: the Poe Dameron-led X-wing rescue on Takodana, Han Solo’s death, and Luke Skywalker’s incredible reveal at the end of The Last Jedi. But all of that apparently pales in comparison to the “visually crazy” moment Boyega is teasing in J.J. Abrams‘ upcoming Star Wars: Episode 9. Read More »
According to a new report, superstar singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran has locked down a small part in J.J. Abrams‘ upcoming Star Wars: Episode 9. You may recall that Sheeran, already a four-time Grammy Award winner at age 27, cameoed in one of pop culture’s biggest properties last year: he showed up on an episode of Game of Thrones playing a Lannister soldier in a scene with Maisie Williams’ Arya. (Williams is a big fan, which is why the showrunners brought him on for the cameo.) Now it looks like he’s heading to a galaxy far, far away.
Find out what the Ed Sheeran Star Wars cameo may be like, and learn more about his other connections to movie and TV properties below. Read More »
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Writer/director/podcaster Kevin Smith has visited J.J. Abrams‘ Star Wars Episode 9 set, and he hated every second of it. “It was dumb,” Smith said of the set. “I looked around, shrugged my shoulders, and said, ‘This is the best you got?’ I interrupted J.J. in the middle of a take and just said, ‘Hey man, thanks for the invite, but this sucks. I’m outta here.'”
I’m kidding, of course. Smith, as rabid a Star Wars fan as you’ll ever find, brought back several tidbits from his travels to the film’s London set, and they’re all overwhelmingly positive – including how he witnessed a performance that drove him to tears. Watch him recount his visit in a video below.
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