J.J. Abrams, director of the upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has confirmed that the script for Star Wars Episode VIII is already finished.
Although Abrams insisted in keeping the key elements of the plot to himself, he revealed part of the developing process in a series of interviews — although he assured lots of rewritings would occur, as it always happens during the script’s creative process.
Star Wars Episode VIII is written and directed by Rian Johnson; however, Abrams said that he and his co-writer for The Force Awakens, Lawrence Kasdan, helped in setting up certain relationships and polish some aspects of the story’s conflicts in the right direction. Basically, Abrams is responsible for Episode VIII’s rewriting and prepping.
When it comes to the Force Awakens, though, the director plans on delivering a story that stands on its own, in which audiences don’t need to be fans of the old saga to get immersed in the new plot.
“We wanted to tell a story that had its own self-contained beginning, middle, and end but at the same time, like A New Hope, implied a history that preceded it and also hinted at a future to follow. We’ve been able to use what came before in a very organic way, because we didn’t have to reboot anything. We didn’t have to come up with a backstory that would make sense; it’s all there. But these new characters, which Force is very much about, find themselves in new situations — so even if you don’t know anything about Star Wars, you’re right there with them. If you are a fan of Star Wars, what they experience will have added meaning,” explained Abrams in an interview with Wired.
The director made emphasis in the challenge he had to face while trying to figure out how to portray the new maturity of the previous episodes’ characters who would be now 40 years older — like the new 70 years old Han Solo, who according to the director, would demand a level of complexity out of Harrison Ford’s performance that younger Han didn’t require back then.
This is not the first time Abrams is in charge of bringing back old franchises. Star Trek’s 2009 film was highly acclaimed by fans of the series and it might give the director enough credit to have high expectations for The Force Awakens, which will be released this year on December 18., and for Star Wars Episode VIII as well, which will begin shooting next year.
Source: Game Spot