J.J. Abrams only wants to do right by George Lucas.
Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger admitted Lucas was unhappy with “The Force Awakens” which was directed by Abrams. In fact, Lucas “felt betrayed.” Speaking to Rolling Stone, Abrams was nothing but gracious in the face of Lucas’ criticisms.
“I’ve only had gratitude for George. It’s probably a complicated thing for him,” Abrams said. “To decide you’re going to sell this thing that you created, that was your baby, to anyone — that must be more complicated than signing a check and smiling about it.”
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“He’s been incredibly gracious. He’s been super-generous,” the filmmaker continued. “He came over, we had a meeting when we first started working on this [new movie], talked through a ton of different ideas and stories, and heard from him what was important.”
Abrams, 53, insists he has done his best to maintain the integrity of Lucas’ vision.
“We’ve done nothing but try and adhere to some fundamental aspects of the story,” Abrams assured. “It wasn’t a difficult thing to try and do. And again, he was really gracious. So I’m only grateful. Do I wish that [‘Force Awakens’] had been his favourite movie of all time? Yes…”
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“I only wanted to do well by him,” he added. “I would just say that I have nothing but profound respect for the guy and am still truly, even more so now, working on these movies in awe of what he created.”
In his book, Iger claimed that Lucas “didn’t hide his disappointment” about “The Force Awakens” and complained that “there’s nothing new.”
Abrams also directs “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” which is in theatres Dec. 20.
