Salon.com > j.j. abrams

“Star Trek Into Darkness”: Who made J.J. Abrams the sci-fi god?

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:31:00 +0000

Apparently I missed the papal conclave. Not the one with Pope Francis and the Argentine torture scandals; I heard about that. I’m talking about the high-level secret meeting in the super-secret sub-orbital space fortress where J.J. Abrams was elected sole curator, conservator and monarch of three generations’ worth of nerdy pop culture history. Seriously, people, how does one guy end up in charge of both the “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” reboots? Give me a break! Isn’t that kind of nuts and megalomaniacal and wrong and just too much of the same flavor of peppermint hazelnut chip ice cream from that one summer in Connecticut, when “Alligator Woman” was on the radio every single day? (We can discuss this another time, but if I could create a world in which Joss Whedon had taken on “Star Trek,” and given Abrams the freakin’ “Avengers,” I’d do it in a heartbeat.)

Margaret Cho: I’d like to be a role model for minority women

Sat, 11 May 2013 17:00:00 +0000

From your early days, you often use your family as material in your stand-up — and your mother was the "headliner" in your latest tour. How did your parents and your cultural upbringing influence your career path?

Yes I think so, but what was remarkable was how much it really informed me as a person. I don't know how Confucian I actually am consciously, but it seems to really have affected me because of my upbringing. I'm very drawn to Korean culture and food now that I'm older and have a more secure sense of my Americanness. There was a period where I wanted to avoid Korean things because they felt so close to home, but now I miss my home so much!

What was one of the most memorable moments of your career?

I think when I saw myself on TV performing for Bob Hope's young comedians special. It was probably 1992, at J.J. Abrams' home of all places. Of course he's very famous now, and he was a successful filmmaker even back then.

J.J. Abrams on “Star Wars” vs. “Star Trek”: “The worlds could not be more different”

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:06:00 +0000

Now that legendary sci-fi director J.J. Abrams, along with stars of the franchise's original cast, has joined Disney's continuation of the "Star Wars" franchise, fans are getting hints of the direction Episode 7 is headed in. And there's more to come as Abrams, whose "Star Trek Into Darkness" comes out this spring, is shifting focus to the Disney project.

He recently told Empire that his expectations for the project are high:

"There are infinitely more questions than answers right now, but to me, they’re [the two films] not that dissimilar. Though I came at these both from very different places, where they both meet is a place of ‘Ooh, that’s really exciting.’ And even though I was never a 'Star Trek' fan, I felt like there was a version of it that would make me excited, that I would think ‘that’s cool, that feels right, I actually would want to see that."

J.J. Abrams will not direct “Star Wars VII”

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 22:16:00 +0000

Ever since Disney announced its acquisition of Lucasfilm and plans for "Star Wars: Episode 7," rumors have been flying about who will be involved in the project. Legendary science fiction director/producer/writer J.J. Abrams, who directed 2009 and 2013's "Star Trek" films, has announced that he will not be in the running, it seems. He recently told told Empire Magazine:

“There were the very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to ‘Star Trek’, and also just being a [‘Star Wars’] fan, I wouldn’t even want to be involved in the next version of those things.”

Abrams is sticking to the "Star Trek" franchise, it seems -- Vulture reports that he's committed to another "Star Trek" movie after the upcoming 2013 film.

“Star Trek Into Darkness” trailer released

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:19:00 +0000

Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana return to lead in the J.J. Abrams sequel, "Star Trek Into Darkness," in which Captain Kirk (Pine) will venture to a dangerous world in order to save his own. Paramount has just released the trailer, and so far it seems like a bizarre/exciting mix of "Inception" meets "Prometheus," of course with a necessary dose of "Sherlock's" Benedict Cumberbatch:

The movie is set to release May 17.