He’s back! After the fallout with Colin Trevorrow and “Star Wars: Episode IX,” Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy needed to a director that ensure the world that the final movie in the latest trilogy would be in dependable hands. So, she turned J.J. Abrams, who got the ball rolling with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” and pilot “Star Wars: Episode IX.”
Kathleen Kennedy to JJ Abrams pic.twitter.com/AD9B5CYMvX
— Prequel Memes (@PrequelMemesBot) September 13, 2017
It might be a safe choice, but there will be no surprises about the kind of movie he will deliver, and fans are generally okay with it. However, there are some people who are pretty pissed at the development — the suits at Paramount.
Abrams has had a long running development deal with the studio, which apparently costs upwards of $10 million per year. In return, the director has only delivered three movies for Paramount across eleven years — “Star Trek,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” and “Super 8” — which producing movies in the “Mission: Impossible” and “Cloverfield” franchises. Paramount was hoping for at least one more directorial effort before the Abrams deal runs out in 2018, but with ‘Episode IX’ now filling up his calendar, that’s unlikely to happen.
Lured by a “once-now-a-twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity” (and probably a ton of cash), Abrams couldn’t resist, leaving Paramount in the lurch. This is now the second time “Star Wars” has hiccuped his time on the Paramount lot.
That said, the studio isn’t going to offer much resistance for a few reasons. Firstly, there’s no upside to causing friction with Disney or Lucasfilm, and even more, Abrams is the kind of guy you want to keep under your roof, even if he puts his slippers under someone’s else bed at night. If Paramount were to let him go when his deal runs out in 2018, there would be nothing more embarrassing than another studio snapping him up and Abrams directing another big hit. [THR]