Even beforeStar Wars: The Force Awakenswas a global blockbuster,J.J. Abramswas one of the most beloved directors in the business. He made his directorial debut with 2006’sMission: Impossible III, which helped revive that franchise, before taking on theStar Trekreboot. As popular as his films are, there is still an aspect that has bothered a great deal of fans, his constant overuse oflens flares, which is most prevalent in 2009’sStar Trek, 2011’sSuper 8and 2013’sStar Trek Into Darkness. But they were practically non-existent inStar Wars: The Force Awakens. The director explained during a recent appearance onLate Show with Stephen Colbertthat he stopped using lens flares because his wife told him to.
“Katie has told me to stop a lot of things… but with the lens flares, I was like, OK. She was right. There was one scene inStar Trek Into Darknesswhere you literally couldn’t see what was going on. And it was a very important, emotional scene.Alice Evewas somewhere behind this crazy lens flare glaring, and Katie just looked at me and said, ‘OK, I think this is it. At this point, you have to absolutely stop doing that.'”
The director’s wife,Katie McGrath, is a public relations executive, who even served as an aide to Senator Ted Kennedy. Not only do fans around the world owe a debt of gratitude to her for killing the lens flares, but she also helped convince her husband to directStar Wars: The Force Awakensin the first place. Hopefully the filmmaker won’t relapse, so to speak, and flood his next movie with lens flares, but we doubt that’s the case.
Of course, even ifStar Wars: The Force Awakenswould have been chocked full of lens flares, it would probably still be a huge hit. The blockbuster has earned $929.3 million domestically and $2.05 billion worldwide, closing in onTitanic’s $2.1 billion mark as the second highest grossing film worldwide. With the movie debuting on Blu-ray/DVD/VOD formats next month, it may not be in theaters for too much longer, but there will undoubtedly be theatrical re-releases at some point, which means it could still break some morebox officerecords.
As of now, the director hasn’t announced what his directorial follow-up toStar Wars: The Force Awakenswill be, but we reported just today that the filmmaker is eyeing the rights to the non-fiction bookKillers of the Flower MoonwithLeonardo DiCaprio. Are you glad the director eased up with the lens flares? Let us know what you think, and check out the video from his appearance onLate Show with Stephen Colbertbelow.
