Summary

  • J.J. Abrams' career has been negatively impacted by his struggles with Star Wars and DC.
  • Despite his achievements in major franchises and TV hits, Abrams' capabilities as a leader were questioned due to creative changes in Star Wars.
  • Abrams should focus on more original stories like his successful sci-fi movie Super 8, which showcased his talent and should serve as a blueprint for future projects.

J.J. Abrams' time linked to Star Wars and DC properties may have gone poorly, but the filmmaker has a sci-fi movie from 2011 that could serve as a blueprint for future successes. Despite being around since the '90s, Abrams didn't make his directorial debut until 2006, when he was at the helm of Mission: Impossible III. His biggest success as a director came with his next project, 2009's Star Trek, which also remains his most well-received movie with him in the director's chair. Even though Abrams has only directed six movies to date, he's also produced several entries in the Star Trek, Cloverfield, and Mission: Impossible franchises.

Abrams' production company, Bad Robot, was founded in 2001, and aside from the film focus, it has been behind a few notable TV shows. In fact, Abrams co-created massively popular shows like Felicity, Alias, Lost, and Fringe while also producing titles like 11.22.63, Westworld, Castle Rock, and Lovecraft Country. Based on Abrams' prominence on the big and small screen, it makes sense why Warner Bros. signed a deal with Abrams and Bad Robot for $250 million in 2019, the same year his most recent franchise film, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, released. Unfortunately, both events would end up negatively affecting his career.

J.J. Abrams Career Has Been Hurt By Star Wars & DC Struggles

JJ Abrams on the set of Star Wars The Force Awakens

Despite his previous achievements from his work in significant franchises, as well as various TV hits, J.J. Abrams' career took a blow due to his struggles with Star Wars and DC. After directing the first entry in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Abrams didn't direct Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Filmmaker After Rian Johnson helmed the second movie, Colin Trevorrow was then set to write and direct the third movie before exiting, causing Abrams to return to the trilogy. The Rise of Skywalker wasn't a box office bomb, but the reception wasn't great, and it earned the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score within The Skywalker Saga.

While the various creative changes backed Abrams in a corner during his time on The Rise of Skywalker, many of the narrative decisions he oversaw questioned his capability to lead major franchises. Still, there was hope his deal with Warner Bros. could turn things around, especially since Bad Robot was developing several DC projects, including a Superman movie with a Black lead, Justice League Dark, and a Constantine sequel. Four years later, WB is reportedly frustrated that Abrams hasn't made a DC project from the deal. His future linked to DC Studios is now under more doubt after James Gunn took over overseeing DC projects for WB.

Super 8 Is What J.J. Abrams Needs More Of, Not Big Franchises

Joel Courtney, Ryan Lee, and Riley Griffiths in Super 8 (2011)

That's not to say all of J.J. Abrams' DC projects will be canceled. In fact, a Batman: Caped Crusader series may still happen with Amazon. Still, Abrams' struggles with Star Wars and DC have proven that he might be better suited to step away from big franchises and focus on more original stories, such as his $260 million hit, Super 8. The sci-fi movie from 2011 was written and directed by Abrams and followed a group of teens from a West Virginia town that find themselves in the middle of an alien invasion while shooting their own Super 8 movie.

Super 8 was fun from start to finish, utilizing an exciting sci-fi tale that still pulled at the heartstrings thanks in part to Joel Courtney's standout performance as Joe Lamb. Considering the similarities to a movie like E.T., it's no surprise that Super 8 was co-produced by Steven Spielberg, especially since it had an Amblin-esque feel. More importantly, the movie served as a reminder that J.J. Abrams could do more of these original sci-fi adventure concepts really well, reiterating why Super 8 should be seen as a blueprint for the filmmaker in approaching new projects, especially outside of big franchises.