J.J. Abrams Opens Up About ‘Star Wars’ Mistakes: “The Lesson Is That You Have to Plan Things The Best You Can”

Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams may have just admitted to a major mistake he made while creating the sequels to the beloved space opera. In a recent interview, the director opened up about the lack of a plan involved in creating the trilogy. The director, who is also known for his work on Lost, spoke with Collider about the 10th anniversary of his film Super 8, opening up about his creative process — specifically, the Star Wars trilogy.

“I’ve been involved in a number of projects that have been — in most cases, series — that have ideas that begin the thing where you feel like you know where it’s gonna go,” Abrams said, “and sometimes it’s an actor who comes in, other times it’s a relationship that as-written doesn’t quite work, and things that you think are gonna just be so well-received just crash and burn and other things that you think like, ‘Oh that’s a small moment’ or ‘That’s a one-episode character’ suddenly become a hugely important part of the story.”

Creative handoffs took place between Abrams and Knives Out director Rian Johnson, who threaded the needle between The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker with his The Last Jedi. Some fans of the series noted the fumble between these three films, which, at times, lacked natural continuity. For example: Daisy Ridley, who starred as Rey in the saga, confirmed that she was never set to be Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter until production began on the final film in the trilogy.

“I feel like what I’ve learned as a lesson a few times now, and it’s something that especially in this pandemic year working with writers [has become clear], the lesson is that you have to plan things as best you can, and you always need to be able to respond to the unexpected. And the unexpected can come in all sorts of forms, and I do think that there’s nothing more important than knowing where you’re going.”

Abrams continued to speak about the conception of Star Wars and his other projects, noting that on occasion, the plan itself gets in the way.

“There are projects that I’ve worked on where we had some ideas but we hadn’t worked through them enough, sometimes we had some ideas but then we weren’t allowed to do them the way we wanted to,” Abrams continued. “I’ve had all sorts of situations where you plan things in a certain way and you suddenly find yourself doing something that’s 180 degrees different, and then sometimes it works really well and you feel like, ‘Wow that really came together,’ and other times you think, ‘Oh my God I can’t believe this is where we are,’ and sometimes when it’s not working out it’s because it’s what you planned, and other times when it’s not working out it’s because you didn’t [have a plan].”

In another recent interview, the director noted he would be working on original material in his next project — we’ll see if he has a plan ready or not, this time around.

Where to Watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens