Is it me or is it hot in here? The latest steamy issue of Playboy magazine features a stunning multi-page spread with the hottest director currently working in Hollywood, J.J. Abrams. Posing in a delicious range of various garments, he bared himself to readers, answering questions on upcoming projects and what he really thinks about a variety of different things.
For a man who is known to keep information about what he is working on close to his chest, the interview gives us meaningless underlings the chance to peek at what secrets the filmmaker’s most popular and fascinating organ – his brain – holds.
First off, he isn’t willing to say who Benedict Cumberbatch actually plays in the upcoming Star Trek: Into Darkness, but he does think that the actor is “fucking kick-ass.” So there’s that. His kick-ass-ness remains to be seen but the actor is usually a safe-bet, and he should receive a commendation for bringing the long coat back into supervillain fashion.
He went on to confirm that Leonard Nimoy dropped by the set to say hello but, unfortunately, William Shatner didn’t. The original Captain Kirk has been sceptical of the new Star Trek universe, presumably because he isn’t in it. A cameo by the elder Spock was apparently originally mooted but didn’t happen in the end.
The subject of Star Wars was also broached, and his initial reluctance to take on such a massive project. He explains further:
I couldn’t imagine doing both. But when I said that my loyalty was to ‘Star Trek’ [I] was literally working on finishing this cut. I couldn’t even entertain another thought,” Abrams said. “It was like being on the most beautiful beach in the world and someone saying, ‘There’s this amazing mountain over here. Come take a look.’ I couldn’t balance the two, so I passed on ‘Star Wars.’
Disney later returned and, with this cut of Star Trek finished, he decided to take on the project.
He goes on to discuss his own almost obsessive need for privacy surrouding his work (stemming from an early leak of a Superman script he wrote for McG, which was savaged online), and his feelings about Michael Bay (they get along, in a sort-of hands-off adversarial way), and perhaps most excitingly that there is a good possibility of sequels appearing for both Star Trek: Into Darkness and Cloverfield.Â
Apparently Cloverfield 2, if it happens, may be inspired by what Guillermo Del Toro acheives with this summer’s Pacific Rim. Star Trek 3 was assumed to be a no-no, given his contract with Disney for the Star Wars movies, but never say never. Apparently J.J. Abrams is trying to work out a way to make it happen, so we’ll have to wait and see.
Apparently they have also have pictures of women elsewhere in the magazine, so maybe look at them while you wait.
