JJ Abrams has said he “totally gets” the mixed reception that Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker received.

The 53-year-old said that he respects those who did not like the final instalment of a nine-part saga that began with the original film in 1977.

Abrams was at the helm of the final instalment, which completed Disney’s latest Star Wars trilogy after 2015’s The Force Awakens and 2017’s The Last Jedi.


It was one of the talked about movies of last year and it proved to be a box office smash grossing over £733.1 million ($1 billion) worldwide.

However, critics were lukewarm and on Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 52% score, with a three-star NME review calling it a “sufficiently satisfying finale.”

Speaking at an event in Santa Monica, Abrahm responded to the reaction saying: “[Reaction was] good, bad, some people hated it, some people loved it.

“It was all over the place. To those who didn’t like it, I totally get it, respect it. To those who loved it, I’m grateful.

“Obviously, a lot of people worked a lot of hours to do something that would make people feel good and that they’d love.”


Touching on the topic again at the Oscar Wilde Awards he added: “Anytime someone doesn’t like it you think ‘oh, yeah I could’ve done that better, I should’ve done that’.

“You try to take it in but for the most part I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who worked so hard to do it and for the people who saw it and loved it I’m grateful to them too.”

When quizzed on whether negative feedback was inevitable when working on one of the most loved franchises in Hollywood, Abrams said: “Maybe, I don’t know. it’s easy to say that but I don’t know if that’s true.”