J.J. Abrams Talks TV Projects and Movies

J.J. Abrams has his hands full at the moment with a plethora of projects destined for both the big screen and your nearest TV. Recently he was at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour and at the party to celebrate the Fox / FX portion of the event, he fielded a series of questions about some of his TV shows, upcoming projects and the films he’s making.

He shared his thoughts on the finale of Lost and the Fringe new time-slot as well as the recently canceled Undercovers. He also talked about his excitement to begin the Alcatraz pilot which starts production soon as well as his other projects, Person of Interest, Odd Jobs and Pulp which he’s developing for various networks. He also gave some info regarding the Star Trek sequel and his current film Super 8.

‘Lost’ was a juggernaut TV series but the ending took some viewers by surprise and drew considerable criticism. He was asked how he felt about the series finale and whether he contributed to the conclusion:

Oh, my god, I thought those guys just did an incredible job. It was really beautifully done…I watched them do an amazing job without me, and I didn’t want to upset the balance. Seriously, they didn’t need my help. They did an amazing job.

His Sci-Fi show ‘Fringe’ which is struggling in the ratings is being moved to Friday nights starting January 21. It’s seen as a tough time-slot and a place where shows go to die, so how does he feel about the move:

Oh, I’m horrified beyond belief, but as a fan of the genre and the show, I’m hoping that fans will tune in. I certainly can promise that it will be worth their while. The episodes that are coming up are spectacular. I guess you can just be hopeful and say that, if the work is good enough, it will find the audience. I think they’re doing better work now, even in the second half of Season 3, than they’ve ever done on the series. I’m just crossing my fingers that fans of the show, show up…

Certainly, I would be lying to you if I said I’m thrilled about the move. But, what I am thrilled about is that the network has been incredibly supportive and, despite its move to Friday, they’ve been nothing but encouraging of the show. It’s still on the air in its third season, and it’s not easy to do that. It’s not easy to get to Season 3 of anything. They’ve allowed the show to become truly great, I think. The question is, will audiences find a great show on Friday nights? I pray that they do.

‘Undercovers’ was a show that was meant to be the next big thing, a lot of time and money was invested and from the previews it seemed to have potential. Though the subsequent episodes proved it was lacking substance and was canceled after just a handful aired. When asked why the spy show which he was integrally involved in and directed the pilot failed, he had quite a bit to offer:

I feel like it was unfortunate…  I completely blame myself for the entire thing. The conceit of the show was to do a much more frivolous, fun show, but ultimately, I think it was just too frivolous and too simple, and we didn’t go deep enough… I especially feel for the actors, who are incredibly talented and wonderful…Audiences want more.

They want something that is more emotionally true and resonates a little more. I think the true failing of the show was that it didn’t go deep enough and it wasn’t about enough. Everyone, including Josh Reims, with whom I created the show, followed my lead. It was all my doing.

TV shows and ratings are always unpredictable but Abrams continues to look for new projects which have potential. A new show that he’s shepherding is called ‘Alcatraz’ and features a stellar line-up:

The cast is unbelievable. It’s Sam Neill, Sarah Jones, Jorge Garcia from Lost – who was the first person we cast and is just the greatest with an amazing role – and Johnny Coyne, who’s an amazing English actor. We have a spectacular cast. There are a number of other actors and it is wonderful. I’m really excited about the show.

‘Alcatraz’ tells the story of a team of government officials pursuing a group of prisoners and guards who disappeared from the prison and re-appear in the present day. Alcatraz closed in 1963 so the incident will likely occur in that time frame. Combined with strange disappearances and an island at the center of the story, it looks set to rival ‘Lost’. The pilot starts shooting January 19th and Abrams was asked whether the show would be shooting scenes at the infamous prison:

Some will be, yes. There are sets being built, but there will be some of the pilot shot in San Francisco at Alcatraz. I don’t want to give anything away because no one wants to hear that, but I will say that it’s a beautifully written and surprisingly emotional script, although not surprising when you know that Liz Sarnoff wrote it. She’s amazing. The show is about an incredibly odd and mysterious turn and secret about the prison of Alcatraz, and a modern-day mystery that involves something very odd that happened there 50 years ago.

When asked about his other upcoming TV projects he had this to offer:

We have a show for CBS called Person of Interest, that Jonah Nolan wrote. We have Odd Jobs for NBC. And we have a new script called Pulp, that was written by Alison Schapker and Monica Breen. That’s a spectacular script. We’re about to go out with that.

A show is also being developed for ‘Lost’ alum Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson of which he gave a brief update:

A script is being written right now. The intent would be to make the pilot for this season.

Changing the topic of discussion to film, he was asked about his latest directorial effort, the top secret ‘Super 8’ which he’s still editing at the moment and is set to be released June 10, 2011. Aside from the teaser that came out last August, he was asked when fans could expect a new trailer.

Probably sometime in March, I think.

He was asked why he’s keeping the details of ‘Super 8’ under wraps:

The strategy isn’t some coy bullshit thing. All we’re trying to do is save something for the experience of seeing a movie. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I get so over-informed that by the time a movie’s released, I don’t care. I’ve seen it.

The big question was the ‘Star Trek’ sequel which the writers announced they had cracked the concept to late last year. He indicated that whilst he’d be enthusiastic to direct the follow-up, he’ll make a decision when the script is completed:

I guess the idea of not wanting to choose to direct a film, for which I’ve not read a script. It’s a tough decision to make without seeing any pages. That’s not to say that I don’t have all the faith in the world in the spectacular writers. Damon Lindelof, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman are awesome. My hope is that they’ll write the script, it will be great and we can make a fun, exciting sequel to Star Trek.

He said that Paramount has asked him to consider using 3D for ‘Star Trek 2’, and he was asked what his thoughts were about the format:

I have nothing against 3-D in theory. But I’ve also never run to the movies because something’s in 3-D. [As for Trek], as soon as I read the script, if it says, “Somebody pushes a weapon toward the camera in a menacing way,” and we think, “That’d be better in 3-D!”…I dunno… I’m a big fan of whip pans, which is very hard to do in 3-D.

‘Star Trek 2’ has a release date set for June 29th, 2012 and Abrams will make the decision sometime around March when the script is expected and pre-production can begin.

Whilst some productions will always be more successful than others, J.J. Abrams continues to be a highly respected and consistently creative writer, producer and director.

via: Collider Screenrant Vulture