Well this got out of hand.
This morning when writing about the potential new writers on Star Trek 3 I dropped a small rumor I had been hearing for months, and had repeated to me again at Comic-Con this weekend - that JJ Abrams was considering or threatening to pull out of Star Wars Episode VII, most likely because of disagreeing about where to shoot and being uncomfortable with the really tight development process (Disney wants the movie out in 2015). I buried the rumor at the end of the piece because I thought it was interesting and I keep wondering if Abrams dropped out of Star Wars would he go back to Star Trek. If. But if I thought the rumor had serious substance I would have, you know, made it its own article.
That rumor took on a life of its own. It's my fault; I didn't put enough disclaimers and weaselly language around the paragraph, and I should have been more specific with what I believe, which is that at this point it's unlikely Abrams will jump ship from Star Wars. It's not a winning move for him, and if he was going to do it he would have done it this spring, when I first heard the rumor. By this afternoon the little rumor - which other journalists and even industry types took to Twitter to say they had heard as well - had turned into sites reporting that Abrams was leaving Star Wars.
For some reason Lucasfilm felt compelled to issue a statement denying this. The LA Times says:
“There is no truth to the rumor,” Lucasfilm said in a statement issued Monday. “J.J. is having a great time working on the script and is looking forward to going into production next year.”
OK! I buy it. They certainly wouldn't lie, and any statement to the press about a JJ Abrams property must be completely true. I feel weird that dropping this little unverified tidbit started a chain of events that led to Lucasfilm having to issue a statement, especially since they could have just ignored it all and simply gone about whatever dog and pony show they have planned for the upcoming European Star Wars Celebration, which is happening this weekend.
As for the real rumor - not that Abrams is leaving but has considered it? I still buy it. I probably should have written that whole paragraph less from a 'JJ could leave' angle and more from a 'there has been friction between JJ and Lucasfilm/Disney.' I'm looking forward to the book being written about the Bad Robot Years, because there's a lot of behind the scenes stuff that will make for interesting reading one day when it can be revealed.
I guess this means I won't be getting the set visit, huh?
We'll said, both of you. I agree 100%.
