Adam Driver Provides ‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ Update


Now that Rogue One has been released, moviegoers are already looking forward to future installments in the Star Wars franchise, the next of which is Episode 8. The sequel to The Force Awakens will once again see Adam Driver portray Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, and the actor has now provided an update on the film, lavishing praise on writer and director Rian Johnson.

Johnson, who drew acclaim from the cinematic community because of his work on Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper, and television’s Breaking Bad, has replaced J.J. Abrams at the helm of the Star Wars franchise. Adam Driver waxed lyrical to The Daily Beast about Rian Johnson, especially when it came to the script for Star Wars 8.

[Image via Paramount Pictures]

Adam Driver remarked.

“He’s a brilliant filmmaker. And he wrote the script also, and he understands the importance of ambiguity and nuance. He wrote something that I think is remarkable.”

Adam Driver also struggled to put into words just what it’s like to work on the Star Wars franchise or the fact that he’s a professional actor at all. Adam Driver confessed that he actually tries not to think about it too much, and instead primarily looks forward. The 33-year-old actor explained.

“It is a trip! I’m not very good at analyzing it, I guess, or even making time to attach meaning to it. So much of it is luck, and timing. I work hard but I can work hard in a vacuum. I’ve been lucky to get these opportunities. It’s very surreal to me. In working on the jobs—and actually doing the thing—I block that stuff from my mind as much as possible, because it’s not good to get nostalgic or overthink it. That might be a good strength of mine: not thinking a lot.”

It’s been a rather successful past 12 months for Adam Driver. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was released in December 2015, drew impressive reviews and went on to gross $2.068 billion, making it the third most successful film of all time. Since then, Adam Driver has also appeared in Midnight Special, Paterson, and Silence, which have each been met with positive reviews and saw the actor work with acclaimed directors Jeff Nichols, Jim Jarmusch, and Martin Scorsese, respectively. This is a trend that Adam Driver will continue in 2017, as he stars in Steven Soderbergh’s Lucky Logan before Star Wars: Episode VIII is released on December 16, while there have even been suggestions that Adam Driver might be nominated for an Academy Award for his performances in Silence and/or Paterson.

[Image by Amazon Studios]

It was hoped that we’d get to see the first trailer for Star Wars 8 with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story when it was released earlier this month. However, it never emerged, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told Lizo Mzmiba, via Comic Book, ahead of Rogue One’s release that was because they wanted to give the standalone Star Wars film room to thrive. After being asked when Star Wars 8’s first trailer will be released, Kathleen Kennedy remarked.

“Pretty soon. We’re giving this [Rogue One] a little breathing room. Probably heading into spring, you’ll start to see things.”

Daisy Ridley, who portrayed Rey in The Force Awakens, recently admitted to Empire Online that she has already seen some of the footage for Star Wars 8 and it made her very, very excited. Daisy Ridley remarked.

“I went to go see Rian in the edit, and that was very…[makes excited noise] Rian sounds very happy. It’s very, very exciting. Rian doesn’t love showing stuff. I’ve seen bits and bobs, but he likes it to be done. So I think probably the first time I see it will be when it’s fully done. I don’t think anyone will see an early cut outside of the main editing team….”

[Featured Image by Lucasfilm]

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