‘It’s goofy’: Star Wars writer Lawrence Kasdan on returning to that galaxy far, far away

Lawrence Kasdan straddles four decades of Star Wars history, having worked on the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and now The Force Awakens and the planned Han Solo spin-off film, which he’s co-writing with his son, Jon. We sat down with the acclaimed writer-director — whose other credits include Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Big Chill and The Accidental Tourist — in his Beverly Hills home to talk about Star Wars past and future and how he became the Obi-Wan of the franchise.

When you look back at the run-up to the releases of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, how does the anticipation and hoopla surrounding The Force Awakens feel by comparison?

There’s no comparison. The way the world is connected now, the fact that everything is instantly available to everybody, that you release a trailer and five minutes later it’s all around the world — there was nothing like that back then. Back in the ‘80s, it was like, “Have you seen the trailer?” “No, I have to go to a movie that’s playing it.” I mean, Empire and Jedi were big movies. But it was just a different world.

At this point, it’s hard to imagine how much higher the expectations could get. There are already predictions this could be the biggest hit of all time.

They’re very high expectations. The business expectations are sort of irrelevant to me. That’s going to do what it’s going to do. People are going to come — does it matter where it lands in the all-time list? I think no, not at all.

What does matter is, do we feel good about it and do we think we fulfilled those things we set out to do? I’ve seen it six or seven times, and I feel very good about that. When this movie starts, you just can’t believe how dynamic and fun it is. I don’t know anybody who can resist who’s slightly open to it. [Director] J.J. Abrams just knocked it out of the park.