J.J. Abrams Estimates There Are “About A Dozen” Star Wars: The Force Awakens Deleted Scenes

As we inch closer and closer to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the final pre-release cast interviews have begun flooding the Internet as fans linger on every word in the hope of new information – even if it is just a sliver.

Now acting as one of the chief gatekeepers of all things Star Wars, J.J. Abrams has been doing the press rounds in anticipation of The Force Awakens‘ release next week, and the director recently touched base with the sequel’s deleted scenes.

While speaking to Collider, the filmmaker was quizzed on the original cut of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and whether the inevitable trimming led to any deleted scenes cropping up on the floor of the editing room. Sure enough, Abrams estimated that there is around 10-20 minutes of deleted material spread across “about a dozen” scenes. Bear in mind that some of these segments in question are little more than a shot, though it’ll be interesting to see which from this collection will rear their heads on the Blu-ray.

“Like partial scenes? Maybe a dozen. I’m sure quite a few of them will make their way to [the film’s Blu-ray]. I don’t know the length, but some scenes are one shot, quick things, some scenes are more legit, with multiple cuts and scenes. So my guess is somewhere between 10 and 20 [minutes].”

At a brisk 2 hours 16 minutes in length, it’s little wonder that Abrams arrived at a final version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens that omitted certain shots and scenes that were deemed superfluous to the finished product.

Alas, it’s unlikely that we’ll hear word of those scenes in question until the release of the Blu-ray in 2016, but J.J. Abrams’ trimmed blockbuster arrives on December 18 in North America.