It’s the 1st of December, which in just over two very short weeks the entire world will go Star Wars crazy, when the highly anticipated (boy, is that an under statement) The Force Awakens is finally unleashed on December 17th. With the hype train chugging along nicely, JJ Abrams dropped by the Howard Stern Show for a fascinating interview where the director dropped some very interesting tidbits about our return to a galaxy far, far away.
The main question everyone is talking about with the release of the recent trailers and posters is where is Luke, with Abrams himself saying that it was no accident. When he was asked the question again by Stern, his answer should calm those (myself included) who feel far too much is being given away with the torrent of trailers and t.v. spots that have come our way lately, “Here’s the thing, I really want to make sure I’m not ruining the movie for people....you don;t have to ruin the movie”, going onto say trailers should have you asking more questions than it answers. Moving onto the moment when Harrison Ford broke his leg on set last year, Abrams explained what went through his head at that moment, and how the accident almost put paid to his time on set as well. “His ankle went sideways - like 90 degrees,” he explained “And I'm there with one of my idols who is now down on the ground. I go try to lift up this door, like any of us would, with a kind of Hulk I'm-Gonna-Lift-the-Car-Up energy ... What I discover is that a hydraulic door cannot be lifted unless it wants to be lifted. And that bones break.” What happened next is Abrams heard a “pop”, but didn’t think much of it because “all day my back was hurting, but all I care about is that Harrison Ford has broken his ankle.” When the pain persisted, he visited a doctor, who after viewing x-rays of Abrams’ back, proclaimed, “Oh my god, your back is broken”.
The most interesting reveal of the interview has to be that Abrams originally turned down directing the movie for a very strange, but understandable, reason. “I said no. I didn't want to do a sequel,” he told Stern “I'd done a 'Mission Impossible' movie; I'd done a 'Star Trek'; I'm sick of doing movies with numbers.” Hey, if you’re JJ Abrams you can do that apparently, but thankfully he soon changed his mind after a conversation with Lucasfilm’s Kathy Kennedy where he fell in love with the idea of people rediscovering the world of Star wars after all these years, “As we were talking about it, I found myself on fire. The idea that Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia … that people wouldn't even know who some of these characters are. The thing that got me was a new, young character ... asking 'who is Luke Skywalker?”.
The main question everyone is talking about with the release of the recent trailers and posters is where is Luke, with Abrams himself saying that it was no accident. When he was asked the question again by Stern, his answer should calm those (myself included) who feel far too much is being given away with the torrent of trailers and t.v. spots that have come our way lately, “Here’s the thing, I really want to make sure I’m not ruining the movie for people....you don;t have to ruin the movie”, going onto say trailers should have you asking more questions than it answers. Moving onto the moment when Harrison Ford broke his leg on set last year, Abrams explained what went through his head at that moment, and how the accident almost put paid to his time on set as well. “His ankle went sideways - like 90 degrees,” he explained “And I'm there with one of my idols who is now down on the ground. I go try to lift up this door, like any of us would, with a kind of Hulk I'm-Gonna-Lift-the-Car-Up energy ... What I discover is that a hydraulic door cannot be lifted unless it wants to be lifted. And that bones break.” What happened next is Abrams heard a “pop”, but didn’t think much of it because “all day my back was hurting, but all I care about is that Harrison Ford has broken his ankle.” When the pain persisted, he visited a doctor, who after viewing x-rays of Abrams’ back, proclaimed, “Oh my god, your back is broken”.
The most interesting reveal of the interview has to be that Abrams originally turned down directing the movie for a very strange, but understandable, reason. “I said no. I didn't want to do a sequel,” he told Stern “I'd done a 'Mission Impossible' movie; I'd done a 'Star Trek'; I'm sick of doing movies with numbers.” Hey, if you’re JJ Abrams you can do that apparently, but thankfully he soon changed his mind after a conversation with Lucasfilm’s Kathy Kennedy where he fell in love with the idea of people rediscovering the world of Star wars after all these years, “As we were talking about it, I found myself on fire. The idea that Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia … that people wouldn't even know who some of these characters are. The thing that got me was a new, young character ... asking 'who is Luke Skywalker?”.
