8 Signs J.J. Abrams Understands Star Wars Better Than George Lucas

7. Collaboration Makes Great Star Wars Films

Early on in the Star Wars franchise, Lucas displayed a willingness to hand the creative reigns off to trusted collaborators. Screenwriting couple Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck helped Lucas polish Star Wars' script and Lucas deferred to producer Gary Kurtz to further refine his ideas during the production. Lucas even allowed other writers and directors to complete his vision for both Star Wars sequels.

The prequel trilogy found Lucas shying away from the collaborative spirit that helped him make the first trilogy such a resounding success. He pulled double-duty as both director and screenwriter on all three instalments of the prequel trilogy, only sharing scripting duties on Attack Of The Clones. While the story Lucas envisioned could have made for a compelling saga, he fumbled the execution with lacklustre dialogue and sub-par screenwriting.

Abrams has a different attitude towards collaboration. Abrams brought screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan - who co-wrote both The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi - onboard to help pen The Force Awakens screenplay based on a story by Lucas and Michael Arndt. Abrams demonstrated that he understands Star Wars works best when the visionary behind the camera allows other very talented people to fill in the details of the world he creates.