Disney Is Slowly Opening The STAR WARS Mystery Box

JJ Abrams wants to keep his movies a secret until you're sitting in the theater. That's just his thing, this Mystery Box approach. Some people like it. When he was hired to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens many worried that the Mystery Box would swallow this hugely anticipated sequel to the original trilogy, that fans would be kept at arm's length the whole time. In 2013 Kathleen Kennedy of Lucasfilm assured us that wouldn't be the case: 

I think the whole issue of confidentiality is gonna be fascinating as we move into making the movie. If we’re shooting anything outside, it’s almost impossible to not have things end up on the Internet. So my feeling is, you need to embrace that, especially with the fans around something like Star Wars. You need to recognize they’re important to the process and acknowledge there are things you’re gonna want to make sure they get to know. So I think that’s something we’re going to monitor, pay attention to and think differently about.

But she was wrong. What reveals did come happened in the most minor ways. Even seemingly insignificant details, like the names of characters, have been held back. The Mystery Box only cracked open for a moment two weeks ago when Disney released a trailer, but it turns out that almost didn't happen - the Mystery Box was almost too tight. 

Disney chief Bob Iger talked about this at a Variety breakfast today, and the trade paraphrases him:

Disney nearly didn’t release a trailer, Iger admitted. Abrams is known for wanting to keep footage of his films under wraps. But the rabid “Star Wars” fanbase prompted Disney to come up with the brief introduction of what the new film would look like.

The lid of the Mystery Box loosens! But there's more, stuff that should please those who roll their eyes at overblown secrecy. Iger talked about how Star Wars will be integrated into the Disney theme parks, and he mentioned that he slowed down development of the much-discussed Star Wars Land because he wanted it to feature elements from The Force Awakens. But it'll contain more than Episode 7 goodies:

“Now we have a sense of what’s in ‘Star Wars 8,’ and what some of the standalone films will have in them," he said, indicating that some of this stuff will appear in the parks as well, possibly even before the release of the movies themselves. 

That's a hard 180 from Abrams' way of doing things. I heard stories about Star Trek Into Darkness and how Abrams wouldn't allow toys of the USS Vengeance to be sold until after the film was released so as to not spoil the new starship; there's no way Abrams would ever willingly sign off on including future Star Wars elements in the parks. 

To me this indicates that once Abrams has moved on Star Wars is going to have a different, more open relationship with fans. It'll be closer to what Kennedy talked about almost two years ago, a series that embraces the fans and understands that the clamor for information isn't a threat but a sign of a healthy, engaged fanbase. Just imagine if, when Star Wars Episode VIII starts shooting they announce not only the actors but also... gasp!... the names of their characters, and possibly even the slightest piece of information about them - whether they're a pirate or a pilot or a commoner or a bounty hunter or what have you. Just imagine.