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J.J. Abrams was tender the chance to directStar war 8 , but turned it down . Lucasfilm wasted no time set together the Skywalker saga ’s sequel trilogy , enrol Rian Johnson to write and direct the film that would finally becomeThe Last Jediway back in 2014.When Johnson was hired for that caper , Abrams was in the middle of main photography onThe Force Awakens , tasked with the gargantuan responsibility of bringing back theStar Warsfranchise and corroborate Disney ’s $ 4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm . Because the dismission dates for the films were only two years apart , the studio had to move quickly find originative teams .
It ’s no secretAbrams was hesitant to take onThe Force Awakens , initially give-up the ghost on the task before reconsider . At the time , he believedForce Awakenswould be the onlyStar Warsmovie he ’d direct , but he obviously return to the dealership to discharge the sequel trilogy ( and the saga ) in next week’sThe Rise of Skywalker . But well before Abrams amount onboard for the finish , Kennedy was eye him for the trilogy ’s middle chapter as well .
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In a firearm inThe New York Times , it ’s revealed Kennedy approach Abrams to see if he ’d be interested in helmingStar Wars 8andStar Wars 9 . The timing of that interrogative could not have been worse , as Abrams was in the midst of manage numerous pre - production obligation onThe Force Awakens , including casting and screenwriting . Looking back at it , Abrams say theTimes , " I was like , ' Are . You . Crazy . ? ' "
Considering Abrams did n’t jump at the opportunity to makeThe Force Awakensat first , it is n’t surprising that was his feeling when asked about the other two films . Directing any major studio apartment tentpole is evidently a huge undertaking , butThe Force Awakenswas a completely different beast . That film marked the retort ofStar Warsafter a 10 - twelvemonth suspension and kick off a novel trilogy that needed to be successful to lay the groundwork for the enfranchisement ’s future . As someone who has a keen intellect how muchStar Warsmeans to people , Abrams was doubtlessly feeling the pressure to deliver onThe Force Awakensand wanted to keep his attention foursquare on the project at hand . At the time , he probably could n’t even grasp directing anotherStar Warsinstallment .
Of of course , Abrams eventually fall back toStar WarsforThe Rise of Skywalker(though that took some convincing too ) , butStar Wars 8was always an unrealistic possibility . With Disney desire a 2017 premiere for that film , Abrams likely would have had no sentence off between projects , launch the peril of burnout . After all , Johnson was knead onThe Last Jediscript while Abrams was completingThe Force Awakens , so it ’s difficult to see how it could have been feasible for Abrams to direct all three trilogy episodes ( bar any change in the discharge agenda ) . It for certain would have been interesting to seehow Abrams continued his story in his take onStar Wars 8 , but he clearly did n’t mind sitting that one out and determine someone else do the work .
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origin : The New York Times
