In a couple of separate stories via Star Wars News Net, we get a few interesting details about Episode IX from J.J. Abrams and writer Chris Terrio who both spoke briefly about the film.
First up is an interview J.J. Abrams did with BBC Radio 4, where he talks about capturing the excitement “Star Wars” gave to him as a kid, but at the same time now needing to do something different with Episode IX.
Here is what J.J. had to say about Episode IX, and you can also hear him talk about over at BBC Radio 4 starting at the 2:22:40 mark.
“Well, it’s certainly something that I’m aware of now working on Episode IX – coming back into this world after having done Episode VII. I feel like we need to approach this with the same excitement that we had when we were kids, loving what these movies were. And at the same time, we have to take them places that they haven’t gone, and that’s sort of our responsibility. It’s a strange thing – Michael’s worked on things like Planet of the Apes and Star Trek and Star Wars, and these are the things of dreams. Yet we can’t just revel in that; we have to go elsewhere.”
To go along with what J.J. had to say to there, Star Wars News Net had another story about J.J. Abrams and his Episode IX co-writer Chris Terrio talking about the film. Now this part should be taken with a little bit of grain of salt, as it comes from a Reddit thread and not a news outlet, but this Reddit user did provide a photograph of him with J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio, showing he did actually meet and talk with them.
So with that information, here is what the Reddit user said he was told about Episode IX from J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio:
“They said that they’re going to be brave and there will be big surprises. I got the impression that JJ felt like he had to refresh previous Star Wars moments for a modern audience in TFA, and now it feels like they have free reign to do what they want. Apparently they’ve had no interference from Kathleen or Pablo or the Lucasfilm Story Group. 9 is also the film which unites all three trilogies and brings everything together. That’s all they would tell me.”
“I worry a little bit that the questions I was asking were too leading. I was speaking to Chris and he was talking about the OT. I said about how I grew up with the PT and the prequels were my entry point into Star Wars. I asked about elements of the PT coming into 9 and Chris said about how 9 unites all of it. He said 9 definitely makes it feel like they’re all happening in the same universe, and there would be PT elements in 9. They could be visual or thematic – he didn’t overtly say that there would be returning planets or characters from the PT or anything.”
This all sounds great. Hearing that Episode IX will have some Prequel elements and will bring all three trilogies together is exactly what I want to hear, so here’s hoping this report from Reddit proves to be accurate.
But even if that Reddit report doesn’t fully come to pass in Episode IX, it was still good to hear J.J. tell BBC Radio 4 that he has to take it to places they haven’t gone before, and it’s just reinforcing my belief that it was the right move to bring him back to close out the sequel trilogy.
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