I've never hidden the fact that I am incredibly sceptical of the future Star Wars films. I don't even care that George Lucas allegedly said he planned to do three trilogies, because I just think that there is only so much milk that you can get out of a cow and that is definitely the same for any kind of series, whether it's a television series or a film series. For me, Star Wars has had its day and needs to be put to bed.
I'm not even going to get into what I think of Disney buying the franchise when they bought LucasFilm from George Lucas, as I covered that in a past post. However, this new development has left me hmming a little bit.
Basically, it has today been reported that the man behind hit TV series Lost, as well as monster movie Cloverfield and the re-vamp of the Star Trek films: JJ Abrams is in talks to Direct the first film in the upcoming trilogy.
Initially, I admit that I groaned a little, mainly at the idea that the trilogy is indeed still going ahead. This is not necessarily a good thing, in my books. However, after a little bit of pondering, I've begun to wonder if Abrams might actually be the perfect man for the job. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons.
1. Star Trek
I've expressed this a few times before, but I hate Star Trek as a whole. I've never been a fan of any of the television series and was once forced to watch one of the films, and gosh was that tough-going. However, I went in to see JJ Abrams first Star Trek film with a clean slate, no expectations and I loved what he did for the series. He brought new life into it, and encouraged non-fans such as myself to appreciate the world of Star Trek.
If he can do that for a series that I really do not like, then I can't help but feel confident that he could potentially do amazing things for a series that I actually love.
2. Damn Good Science Fiction
In very different ways Lost, Cloverfield and Star Trek have all been incredible for creator Abrams, and interestingly each of them are Science Fiction, allowing Abrams to leave a firm mark on the genre. At the minute there aren't really that many Directors who have done great things for Science Fiction other than Lucas and James Cameron who are of course both long-serving veterans. Therefore, someone young like Abrams can easily bring something fresh to the genre as he already has. He's certainly proven that he can make good Science Fiction, on par with the greats who have come before and inspired him, so I see no reason why he couldn't do great things for Star Wars too.
If the series absolutely has to be made, then I hope that JJ Abrams will come on-board. I can't think of any other Director who might be able to do as good a job as I would expect Abrams to be.
