There was a time when Star Wars fans presumably thought that there would never be another Star Wars movie. After the middling reception that met most of George Lucas' prequel trilogy, it pretty much seemed as though Star Wars had run its course; any good will that fans had left over for the franchise had dissipated with the arrival of Jar Jar Binks and lot of terrible acting (courtesy of Hayden Christensen). And then the news: Disney had bought LucasFIlm and were starting work on a brand new trilogy set 30 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode V - Return of the Jedi. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford would reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo, respectively. Lawrence Kasdan - screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back - would pen the script. J.J. Abrams would direct it. It was almost too much to handle. And indeed, the levels of hype associated with such a project - arguably the most ever amounted for a single movie - have poised Star Wars as the definite example of a film franchise that has found itself backed into a corner. After all, the pressure from all sides is incalculable; there are so many boxes to tick, so many aspects to address, so many expectations to fulfill on all sides... Right now, the weight on J.J. Abrams' shoulders is truly mountainous. He is the lone film director, backed into the dark corner of a cave on Tatooine, waiting to be prodded with the tips of a million tiny lightsabers...
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
