Do you ever just hear a piece of news like a kick to the chest and it takes you a second to really process how you feel about it, but there’s that split second of blissful realisation that all is good in the world? That’s kind of what I’m going through with this. Because I gotta admit something: I’m not a fan of J.J. Abrams. I think as a producer he can helm projects that have a lot of scope and potential, but as a director I have never been impressed. Okay, Super 8 was pretty good except for the actual plot.
But the point is that after the devastatingly underwhelming (for me, anyway) Star Trek Into Darkness, the idea of J.J. Abrams helming Star Wars made me incredibly apprehensive. I, like many others, love Star Wars. It was my first real experience with science fiction and blew my tiny mind apart as a child but after having to sit through the Prequel Trilogy and watch the series slowly wither under the weight of unfulfilled potential, I was pretty much done.
Until now, that is. Because Deadline have reported that Rian Johnson will be writing and directing Episodes VIII and IX after Abrams establishes the new direction for the series in Episode VII. This isn’t unlike what happened with the original trilogy what with Irvin Kirshner directing V and Richard Marquand (to an apparently lesser degree) directing VI. This is a move I wholeheartedly approve of as Rian Johnson is an excellent filmmaker and he has proven it multiple times with the likes of Brick, The Brothers Bloom and Looper as well as the best episodes of Breaking Bad.
While I’m still waiting for someone to let Neill Blomkamp direct a Star Wars film, this will more than suffice for now.
