J.J. Abrams Talks "Honoring But Not Revering" 'Star Wars'

The Producers Guild of America held their Produced By Conference yesterday, and it involved a 75-minute discussion between Reginald Hudlin and J.J. Abrams. While the whole thing was likely very informative and entertaining, many of the attendees were probably waiting to see if Abrams would address Star Wars in any way. Towards the panel's conclusion, Abrams was pressed on the subject by Hudlin, who wanted to know if his film would be based on any of the Star Wars novels...

Abrams: "I think the key in moving forward with something like this is in honoring but not revering what came before. There's that deep feeling of infinite possibilities that I think was the ultimate thing I thought when I first saw 'Star Wars' which I would -- and probably will -- give my left arm to try and come close to again." 

That's pretty much in keeping with Abrams' attitude for all of the franchises he's been a part of, from Mission: Impossible to Star Trek, and it makes sense to approach Star Wars from the same angle.  For the most part, Abrams stayed general in discussing his plans, but he did reveal plans to pack up his family of five and move from Los Angeles to London by the end of the year.

Abrams: "[W]hen I came into it there was already a pre-arranged thing for them to be shooting in England which, really does make me insane. I've never shot a movie outside the US or out of L.A... We are, most likely, if all goes ahead, going to be moving to London at the end of the year... There's a whole lot of stuff happening at home. It's not an easy thing."

Production on Star Wars: Episode VII is expected to begin in early 2014 for release in the summer of 2015.  [Variety]