Super 8 and The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams has a mystery movie in the works, which could eventually star Harrison Ford…
Mystery box fan JJ Abrams is currently working away on his latest film, and after a string of sequels and reboots in his recent career, it sounds as though he’s returning to the more personal movie-making of 2011’s Super 8.
Little is known (at least officially) about Abrams’ latest gambit, but according to Hollywood scoop acquirer Daniel Richtman, Harrison Ford – with whom Abrams last worked on Star Wars: The Force Awakens – might be appearing in the director’s upcoming movie. If it actually happens, Ford will be joining Jenna Ortega and Glen Powell, who’ve previously been attached.
So what else do we know about the project? Earlier in August came the rumour that Abrams is working on a “fantasy film with some Last Starfighter vibes” – a reference to the 1984 sci-fi adventure about a young arcade game expert who’s recruited to fight in an intergalactic war. It’s said that the Abrams joint is fantasy rather than sci-fi, and that it has ‘throwback vibes’ – making it of a piece with the filmmaker’s earlier, nostalgia-heavy work, whether it’s the Spielbergian Super 8 or his Star Trek and Star Wars reboots.
More recently, World of Reel has pointed out that the project is listed on Production Weekly, and has a working title of ‘Acorns’. That listing then briefly describes the film as being about a “young married couple struggling to survive against a supernatural entity.”
Oddly, this makes the project sound less like throwback fantasy and more like some form of Blumhouse-esque horror. At this stage, it’s impossible to know how all these reports and rumours will fit together (Harrison Ford as the supernatural entity?). Yet another report, this one from Jeff Sneider, suggested that the script for Abrams’ next opus had “drawn a mixed reception” from other industry types who’ve read it. Frankly, we’d be shocked that a Hollywood movie would go into production without a decent script in place.
More on JJ Abrams’ movements as we get them.
