“Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” officially launches on Dec. 16, 2015 in certain areas. Director and co-writer J.J. Abrams had an interview with SlashFilm where he revealed some of the deviations he made from George Lucas’ original plot.
IGN wrote that Lucas had a clear plan for “Star Wars,” but the series began to depart from the creator’s original version after Lucasfilm was sold to Disney. Abrams said that, when he agreed to direct “The Force Awakens,” Disney already terminated Lucas’ intentions for the sequel films. The director was told to begin from scratch and to tell a story that was the continuum.
"I can’t quantify that, but I can say that the spirit of it, the feeling of it, the continuum and telling a brand new story set in a world that just like VI from V and V from IV would feel like a continuum, is always the thing [co-writer] Larry [Kasdan] and I wanted to do." Abrams answered after he was asked how “The Force Awakens” differs from the original plans by Lucas.
Abrams said that Kathleen Kennedy had Larry Kasdan and Michael Arndt work with him to create a new storyline for “The Force Awakens.” He said that the new movie would answer several questions such as why they are telling the story, who the relevant characters are and what do they wish to feel.
The director mentioned that Kasdan has been working on “Star Wars” for decades and is an excellent collaborator on the events that would happen after “Episode VI.” Kasdan was the “dream person” who could come up with great lines for the different characters in the plot and create consistent links throughout the Empire.
Based on the same interview with SlashFilm, Abrams said that they came across several ideas that they believed would be good for future sequels. He stated that Rian Johnson was a great director and writer who came up with an amazing script that will be good for the next chapter.
Apparently, Abrams has no intention to overwrite or alter the rules that have already been set by Lucas in the series lore and mythos. He added that he does not fully understand the science of the Force. For the filmmaker, “Star Wars” was a spiritual story and not mere science fiction.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will release in the United Kingdom on Dec. 17 and in North America on Dec. 18, 2015.