How J.J. Abrams Influenced 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'
Rian Johnson is the latest director to put his stamp on the Star Wars franchise. But with The Last [...]
Rian Johnson is the latest director to put his stamp on the Star Wars franchise. But with The Last Jedi being the second film in a trilogy, he's having to build off of the foundation laid in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
In an interview with the New York Times, Johnson revealed how much director J.J. Abrams influenced his new film beyond setting the stage in Episode VII.
"If I had questions — what did you think this was going to be? What were your ideas for this? — I could always ask him," Johnson said. "But those questions only address what these characters want and how they get there. Take the question of who Rey's parents are: If you get the information — oh, it's that! — who really cares? I know a lot of people care, but it's interesting as opposed to impactful.
"Now, what is my place in the world? Where do I come from? Where do I belong? O.K., I understand what the weight of that is. We could play with those questions and their answers to have the biggest emotional impact on these characters."
Johnson has previously spoken about how his intention was to make a compelling character drama first.
Though Abrams set up many mysteries in The Force Awakens (such as who Rey's parents are, what happened to Kylo Ren, and what's the deal with Snoke?) Johnson said he wasn't mandated by Lucasfilm to include any specific resolutions to them.
"I had figured there would be a big map on the wall with the whole story laid out, and it was not that at all," Johnson said. "I was basically given the script for Episode VII; I got to watch dailies of what J.J. was doing. And it was like, where do we go from here? That was awesome."
Johnson added that because it was the second film in a trilogy, there were some expectations.
"But it's the second film in a trilogy. The first film got these characters here. This second movie has to dig into and challenge these characters," Johnson said. "I wanted this to be a satisfying experience unto itself. I didn't want it to end with a dot, dot, dot, question mark."
Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres in theaters December 15.
