J.J. Abrams’ tastes are nothing if not diverse. Between reviving Star Trek, Star Wars, and providing us with some of the most engaging thrillers this side of a Spielberg movie, he has kept himself insanely busy over the last few years. As it turns out, Abram has been coming up with great stories a lot longer than we realized. The modern film icon recently came out and admitted that years ago he met with Steven Spielberg about potentially crafting a sequel for the beloved Robert Zemeckis film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
During a recent interview on the Nerdist podcast (hat tip /Film), J.J. Abrams explained that he actually met with Steven Spielberg about taking part in a potential Who Framed Roger Rabbit? sequel as a teenager:
I’ve told this story before, but when I was 16 Kathleen Kennedy called Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and I, to ask if we would repair these 8mm films Steven had made when he was a kid. It happened because we were in a film festival and she had read about us in the LA Times. So, of course, we said yes and did the repairs. Years later I got to meet Steven. I went into a meeting…actually, it was for a Roger Rabbit sequel. It was a whole thing. I actually have some storyboards for a Roger Rabbit short. Honestly, we never really got to that phase [where it got serious]. We were writing an outline, but it honestly went away before it was anything. This was a long time ago. Zemeckis probably would’ve been a producer on it. This was 1989.
I think it’s officially safe to say that J.J. Abrams had better teenage years than I did. When he was 16 he got the attention of people like Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg because of his work in a small film festival. They brought him in to work on some old 8mm films and eventually he sat down with the iconic director about a potential sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Although the project never got passed the early discussions about story details, J.J. Abrams still looks back fondly on those days and has a few storyboards lying around. What we wouldn’t give to see some of those early sketches.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is an absolute classic film from the 1980s. Directed by cinematic legend Robert Zemeckis, it’s the type of movie that very clearly inspired the sort of nostalgia drenched filmmaking techniques that J.J. Abrams has become known for in recent years. We can only imagine how awesome a sequel with his characteristic style would have looked.
We now live in a world where nostalgia rules all. With that in mind, we think the door remains wide open for J.J. Abrams to one-day return to this project and actually produce the Who Framed Roger Rabbit? sequel that we have always wanted to see. For now, be sure to check out his latest project, 10 Cloverfield Lane, which is currently in theaters.
