J.J. Abrams Responds To ‘The Rise Of Skywalker’ Critics: “They’re Right”

Denise Petski
Updated

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J.J. Abrams was asked about the criticism of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker during an interview Friday following a screening of the film at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood. The film has received less-than-stellar reviews from critics, as well as intense debate among fans (it’s received a B+ CinemaScore, the lowest ever for a Star Wars live-action film). When asked by Vanity Fair‘s Anthony Breznican if fans aren’t getting something from the final film in the franchise, the director replied “No, I would say that they’re right,” adding “The people who love it more than anything are also right.”

Noting that it’s impossible to please everyone, Abrams said “We knew starting this that any decision we made — a design decision, a musical decision, a narrative decision — would please someone and infuriate someone else,” Abrams said. “And they’re all right.”

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Abrams also put to rest any notion that there was any discord between him and The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson. “It would be a much more interesting answer if there were conflict,” Abrams said. “The truth is when I was getting [The Force Awakens] up and running, I was nothing but grateful that a director and writer I admire as much as Rian was coming in to do [the next one.] Not expecting to come back to this, it was just fun to watch what was happening and get to respond to it.

According to industry estimates, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s opening weekend is projected at around $179M+ at the box office.

You can watch the exchange below:

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