In the early 2000s, and through to the next decade, JJ Abrams was one of the most hyped-up rising Hollywood directors.
After creating “Felicity,” “Alias” and “Lost,” this boy genius graduated to film and directed “Mission: Impossible 3,” “Star Trek,” and “Super 8,” among others. The sky was the limit for Abrams, with many people dubbing him “the next Spielberg.”
Is it safe to say that Abrams had to sustain a lot of damage from Disney’s last ‘Star Wars’ trilogy? He oversaw the entire thing, and even directed two of the films (“The Force Awakens” and “Rise of Skywalker”). The end result was a catastrophe, and Abrams ended up being accused by Star Wars fans of dragging their beloved franchise into the gutter.
Four years later, where’s Abrams? He hasn’t directed anything. He’s had a few TV projects get canned. He mostly produces now, if that. Recently, the UK’s Telegraph claimed that he was in “director’s jail.” That’s surely a possibility.
A recent report, from a dubious source, is claiming that Abrams has set up a new film, over at Warner Bros, which he will be directing. The project is being described as an “homage to Back to the Future” and “about a young man who travels through time.” Timothee Chalamet and Elle Fanning are said to be in talks to star.
However, I’m hearing this report is FALSE. Abrams isn’t involved in such a project.
There was a time when Spielberg took him under his wings and Tom Cruise sought him out to revive ‘Mission: Impossible,’ but those days are long gone. Many people also forget that Abrams was originally attached to direct “Killers of the Flower Moon,” in 2016, before that project got sidelined and Martin Scorsese entered the picture.
Abrams has been mocked for his persistent usage of lens flair, much like Zach Snyder’s obsession with slo-mo, but I found 2011’s “Super 8” to be incredibly well-paced and enigmatic storytelling. It was an original — not an IP — but then, for the next decade, Abrams decided that his main purpose in the industry was to reboot franchises.