Via Nzherald.co.nz:

Imagine for a moment the peculiar experience of finding yourself in the Arabian desert, telling C3PO what to do.

Such was the case for JJ Abrams, who – despite his own trepidation – stepped into George Lucas’ space opera with the monumental task of meeting the Death Star-sized expectations that await Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

For the 49-year-old Abrams, who grew up a Star Wars fan, part of the challenge was coming face-to-face with a fantasy world he knew and loved.

“That was a constant in the production of the movie: moments where we would all look around and realise what we were doing and gasp a little bit and then dive back in,” Abrams said in a recent interview before ducking back into editing.

“When you’re on the set of the Millennium Falcon or staring into the eyes of C3PO giving direction, it’s pretty easy to have that fanatic part of you bubble up. But our job was to be there to tell this story, not to be a fanboy.”

Thanks to those fanboys and girls (many of whom are now men and women), there’s no more anticipated movie this fall than The Force Awakens (due out December 18).

The rollout began months ago, whetting the rabid appetites of Star Wars fans with an IV drip of footage, still pictures and trailers.

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