A new batch of official images have been released from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and they offer up a behind the scenes look at the highly anticipated J.J. Abrams helmed release.
These come after Wired caught up with the filmmaker to talk about the next Star Wars movie, and while he obviously didn’t/wouldn’t reveal any specifics, he did have this to say about handing over the reigns of the franchise to Breaking Bad and Looper’s Rian Johnson.
“Rian has asked for a couple of things here and there that he needs for his story,” Abrams said of his role in the production of 2017’s Star Wars Episode VIII. “He is an incredibly accomplished filmmaker and an incredibly strong writer. So the story he told took what we were doing and went in the direction that he felt was best but that is very much in line with what we were thinking as well. But you’re right—that will be his movie; he’s going to do it in the way he sees fit. He’s neither asking for nor does he need me to oversee the process.”
“The script for VIII is written,” the director added. “I’m sure rewrites are going to be endless, like they always are. But what [Larry Kasdan] and I did was set up certain key relationships, certain key questions, conflicts. And we knew where certain things were going.”
Starring original cast members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker and franchise newcomers, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Lupita Nyong’o and Max von Sydow, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set to be released on December 17th.
