Super Gr8

With the debut of a new commercial this weekend, J.J. Abrams is finally talking about about his highly secretive project Super 8 to The Los Angeles Times.

Abrams says he would rather keep quiet about it, but producer Steven Spielberg and the studio suits have asked him to talk about the pic  a bit more since it is facing some major competition this Summer.

”We have such a challenge on this movie. Yes we’ve got Steven’s name on it and my name on it — for what that’s worth — but we’ve got no famous super-hero, we’ve got no pre-existing franchise or sequel, it’s not starring anyone you’ve heard of before. There’s no book, there’s no toy, there’s no comic book. There’s nothing. I don’t have anything; I don’t even have a board game, that’s how bad it is. But I think we have a very good movie”

The film actually started out as two separate films - a small and non-fantastical coming-of-age tale of the kids shooting their home movie, an a high concept project about secret trains shipping things out of Area 51 in the 70's. The idea was ultimately fused into this project. The film is described as a throwback to 80's coming of age genre movies la- E.T..

The story is set in Ohio in 1979 where a group of six young friends are trying to make their own amateur zombie movie using an old Super 8 camera. During filming one night on a lonely stretch of rural railroad tracks, a train carrying cargo from Area 51 collides with a truck and derails. A xenomorph escapes from the wreckage.

"Super 8" will also explore the issue of loss as it starts with a small-town factory death and its impact on the victim's family - “This is a movie about overcoming loss and finding your way again and finding your own voice. A boy whose lost his mother and the man whose lost his wife. There’s this father who, because of the era, never really had to be the parent. He’s a good man, he works hard, he’s a deputy in the town, but he’s never stepped up as father” says Abrams.

The film stars Elle Fanning, Amanda Michalka, and Kyle Chandler, and is due for release June 10.

The ad helps sell the throwback notion and is very evocative of the Spielberg films of the past--thanks in large part to the very John Williams-esque music used by composer

Michael Giacchino

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