ST JJ Abrams directing Episode IX Discussion

This is good. As mutch as i like Filoni, i say let him just make good TV shows and control all animation thats where his talent is. He may get more creative control in LF. I think this is good that she has this role. She won't replace Kk. Another one for that role once Kk is done.

 

Wasn't JJ an executive producer for TLJ? It's not like he can just ignore it, plus he had to collaborate with the Story Group so it would be a smooth transition between both films. Do we know whether it was a co-production again?

 

JJ will soon be the only person besides Lucas who has directed 2 Star Wars movies. Will he be the last to do so? *he'll also be the ONLY SW director to work with non-alien, non-droid cast that appeared in all three trilogies (McDiarmid).

Will Benioff & Weiss hire one director to do their entire trilogy or will they mix it up?

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/22/movies/jj-abrams.html

Can you sense the inflection point the industry is in right now?

For a long time, people have been saying the business is changing, but that’s undeniable now. It’s on, it is changing. The way people consume content, the different methods of distribution, the idea that many people will be watching [a large-format movie] on a screen that is around the size of a frame of the film you’re shooting — it’s crazy!

Some people think we’re heading for a future where the only films that get theatrical distribution are huge-budget tentpole films and low-cost genre films. Would you agree?

When you have a movie that’s as entertaining, well-made and well-received as “Booksmart” not doing the business it should have, it really makes you realize that the typical Darwinian fight to survive is completely lopsided now. I think everyone’s trying to figure out how we protect the smaller films that aren’t four-quadrant mega-releases. Can they exist in the cinemas?

Though I’ve obviously been involved in so many big franchises that pre-existed me, I feel like it’s really important for movies to thrive in the way we all want them to, we have to find ways to get people into theaters for movies other than the giant event movies. Not that those are a given either, by the way! That’s something that’s been on my mind lately.

Over the next 10 years, do you expect a lot of change to the theatrical window, the length of time a movie stays in theaters before its home release?

The window will naturally shrink. Part of that is that when consumers want something, they find a way to get it. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle. It seems like leaving money on the table if there are people who might pay a premium to see a movie but they can’t get out of the house or get a babysitter, and it seems crazy to not give audiences the movies they want to see when they can.

I know we’ve become increasingly accustomed to being connected to people that you’re nowhere near, but people have an intrinsic need to have actual experiences and come together. As someone who’s optimistic about moviegoing, I don’t think that goes away.

With Apple, Disney and a host of other big companies about to enter the streaming business, how will the movie business change to accommodate them?

It’s hard to know exactly how it’s all going to work, and I think these companies are all trying to figure it out themselves. The optimist in me says hopefully there will be a chance for storytellers and filmmakers of all backgrounds to have shots at telling their stories who might not have otherwise. The pessimist in me says there’s going to be so much real estate that there’s going to be a lot of landfill — stuff that might not be worth everyone’s time. But I think the optimist wins this one.

Because audiences are so demanding and smart, they’re not going to put up with junk. The demand for innovative, new young storytellers is going to be high, and as uncertain as everything is, there’s probably never been a better time to be a creative person in this business, just because of the near-term demand for programming. It’s going to require great stories for these platforms to survive, so that people become not just subscribers but loyal subscribers.

Are we starting to see a permanent shift when it comes to diversity onscreen?

Increasing the pool to include more people of color and of diverse backgrounds and sexual orientations is only good for business. When we were casting “Force Awakens,” it was really important to us that the movie looked more like the way the world looks than not. It’s not that there should be any quota — you should be only casting the best people for the roles — and yet, I think the audience does value the effort to go beyond the usual suspects.

Audiences are so sophisticated now in terms of process and story, you can’t fool people the way you used to be able to. People can get a sense of what was the corporate decision and what was the creative decision. I think we all have to work harder because audiences demand more, and rightfully so.

What helped prompt your awakening on this?

This is something that my wife, Katie, and I have been thinking about for a long time. Years ago, we were looking around the room at the Emmys, and it was essentially all white people in the room. It felt strange for this medium that’s meant to be accessible to everyone and tell stories that represent and entertain everyone in the country, to see that the vast majority of the people there were white. I mean, it was a little bit shocking to even consider it.


We started asking ourselves why, and we realized the system we inherited was one where you get your list of directors, writers, or actors and they’re all kind of the same list. We said to the agencies that we want the lists to look like the country. Does it take more effort? It does, but it felt foolish to do anything else.

What are some specific instances where that approach has had an effect on your movies?

We were doing this little horror movie called “Overlord,” we found this actor we really liked for the lead role who happened to be black, Jovan Adepo. He’s very talented, but we were told by various people that there were no black men in the military division we were telling our story about — yet this is a movie about zombies in World War II. There were no zombies in World War II either! So we cast him, and he was fantastic.

For me, opening up the pool of people is the absolute least we can be doing to make our stories more interesting. If the group of people that you’re working with only look like you, you’re failing before you start. I think audiences deserve points of view that aren’t so myopic.

 

does he mean --- you cant fool them like we did back in 2015?

 

I don't think the misleading marketing for TFA is JJ's fault, specifically.

 

Well RJ is also slated to direct another.

 

the Variety article pointed out that JJ felt more free from the constraints of Star Wars style this time, which I did quite like his direction in TFA cuz it looked of a piece of the Star Wars saga, although Abrams style did peek through. He's calmed way way down on lens flares and handheld later on maybe a bit of a return to that? Not sure, but sometimes he does so freaky dutch sideways angles which I think could work in Star Wars.

 

Everything from the teaser thus far has felt more confident to me in terms of Abrams directorial approach. There's certainly a stronger implementation of building suspense in the opening scene with Rey on Pasaana as opposed to the occasionally frenetic pacing of some scenes in TFA.

 

Filoni will continue to rise in rank, because he is the only guy at Lucasfilm that understands what SW is and how to bring it forward.

 

On that there, i might get burned for this but i will put both Filoni and Rian as who understand SW and how to bring it forward. I don't judge Rian too hardly on TLJ. Give him another movie without needing to follow from 7. I know that they both on good terms. Filoni learned film making from Rian and he learned something fro Filoni i think, he watched the mortis trilogy when making TLJ.

 

Preetttyyy sure Filoni digs TFA, Troy. Probably TLJ too, even if content from that hasn't made it into one of his animated series just yet. Some food for thought. Clearly he doesn't consider himself "the only one at Lucasfilm who gets it".

 

I know I'm in a minority, but I generally don't care much for Filoni's take on SW. To be fair, that could be partly just because I have a difficult time get invested in cartoons (yes, I'm old), and so far, that's all he's done. It's possible that I might change my mind if I saw him try live-action. Presumably, the tone would be different, as there are certain things that maybe seem appropriate for cartoons, but wouldn't seem appropriate for live-action.

 

He Is the Showrunner for The Mandalorian so we will get to see his take on Live Action pretty soon! I personally loved The Clone Wars and even more The Rebels They aren't kids shows they are Family shows intended for the whole family to enjoy kids and adults! I am 38 years Old and I love Cartoons I love The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, Bobs Burgers, King Of The Hill and even the more kids oriented shows I like and I love Pixar. I would love to see Filoni direct a live action Star Wars film I think he is up to the task! A good example of a guy that started in Animation then went into Directing Live Action Films and Is a great Director, Brad Bird!

 

Well, Favreau's the show-runner, no? But Filoni's definitely heavily involved as one of a few producers.

 

Faveru's the show runner with Filoni i think, they might it together and from their talks it's their project. Filoni is a producer and a co-showrunner i think. He'll make 1st and 5th episodes and they'll glorious. There's even now talk of both of them doing an animation series together that might be the next TCW in story and budget. Filoni will only continnue to rise, I wonder if he might produce an episode of the cassion show, it might tie someways into his rebels show with the rebellion.
I also wonder's if He might be a producer in one of Rian's films. As they close friends, and Rian thought him some art of film making.

 

Good point about The Mandalorian! I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

Before this wanders too far off topic...
I just recently watched the "Secrets Of The Force Awakens" documentary for the first time, and I have to say, JJ's excitement for this stuff is pretty infectious! I still wish, though, that TFA had the same quality BTS documentary that the prequels had. "Secrets" was well put together, but it felt a bit too sanitized. I liked the prequel documentaries because they included footage of the filmmakers struggling to make things work. The TFA documentary was a bit too much like "Wow, we're all working on a new SW movie, and this is amazing, and we're all having the best time ever!" I think "The Director & The Jedi" for TLJ was bit more insightful, and I'm hoping we get something comparable for TROS.

 

Abrams looking at Ford's broken leg.

 

Happy Birthday, JJ Abrams!

 

I DO hope for something like that. Or something like George watching the TPM for the first time and saying, "I might have gone too far..." while everyone else looks on like, "Oh man... this is not good."

 

Rick McCallum was absolutely fantastically great in that Documentary!

 

Is that trailer scene on Pasaana rumored to be the opening scene of the movie?

Personally, I think the first 45 minutes of TFA are the best 45 minutes we've gotten in the ST.

 

Doubt Pasaana's at the start, probably more mid-movie.

Hypothetically it would be pretty awesome opening a movie straight out the gate with Ben having hunted Rey down somewhere, huge lightsaber throwdown ensues, though. Pretty sure the jungle planet's hinted as some of the early stuff though.

 

I meant as in the opening scene of the trailer. I imagine the actual scene is something like halfway through.