J.J. Abrams' wife did not want him to direct 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'.
J.J. Abrams
When Steven Spielberg suggested the filmmaker to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy for the reboot of the franchise, J.J. admitted his wife Katie was against it as she did not want him to work on any more franchises after 'Mission Impossible' and 'Star Trek'.
Steven told The Hollywood Reporter: "I brought J.J.'s name up. I thought J.J. would be the best person to direct Episode 7 and I called J.J. and said 'Would you do it if it was offered to you?' He said, 'I would but my wife won't let me because she doesn't want me to restart any more franchises.' But I went to Kathy and asked if I could get J.J. to say yes to this would you consider it? Kathy said 'Are you kidding? Of course I would. But why would J.J. do 'Star Wars'; he's already done 'Mission Impossible' and 'Star Trek?'
And in order to convince J.J's wife, Steven and his wife took the Abrams' out to dinner where he broached the subject.
He said: "So I take Katie Abrams and J.J. to dinner with my wife, Kate, and right in front of Katie Abrams I popped the question. I said to Katie, 'I think there's a chance that J.J. could direct 'Star Wars'. What do you think of that?' And Katie turned to J.J. and said, 'That would be amazing. Really?' And I went outside the restaurant, picked up my phone, called Kathy and said, 'When can we meet with J.J.?' And that's how the whole thing began."
And Kathleen insisted that they needed a strong leader as well as a creative force to direct the rebooted franchise.
She said: "One of the things I've come to realise since I've been in this position of keeping 'Star Wars' going is that in addition to looking for somebody who can creatively have an impact, you're really looking for leadership skills. No one steps into these big movies without being able to genuinely lead the charge with hundreds of people and [handle] the relationship with the studio."
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