J.J. Abrams: 'The Force Awakens' Not a Rip-Off of Original 'Star Wars' Trilogy

There is no question that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a fun film to watch, especially with its several Easter Eggs and direct references at the original trilogy. However, Episode VII has recently come under fire for being considered a rip-off of the first three Star Wars movies so director J.J. Abrams has decided to speak up about the allegations.

During a recent episode of THR's Awards Chatter podcast, Abrams admitted that he was already expecting the backlash.

"I knew that, whatever we did, there would be a group of people – and I was just hoping and praying that it would be smaller than not – that would take issue with any number of things," Abrams said, adding that he was initially wary of the project.

"But I knew we weren't making the movie for any other reason than we believed that it could be something meaningful and special and entertaining and worthy of people's time," he said.

The director also explained why it was important to pay tribute to the original trilogy despite the risk of being called a rip-off.

"What was important for me was introducing brand new characters using relationships that were embracing the history that we know to tell a story that is new – to go backwards to go forwards," Abrams said.

The Force Awakens certainly paid homage to several scenes in the original trilogy, from Rey's land cruiser zipping along in the horizon to the montage of strange characters in the cantina scene in Takodana. However, the scenes looked more like well-timed tributes rather than direct rip-offs of the original scenes from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

It doesn't seem to matter whether the film was a blatant rip-off or a faithful tribute to the original Star Wars trilogy, The Force Awakens has recently become the third highest-grossing movie of all time just three weeks after its premiere.