John Doom said:

DominicCobb said:

You do not have to stay true to the source. There's no rule that says that. There are plenty of films that have succeeded by not staying true to the source.

That's true: Tim Burton's Batman movies come to mind, in a way.

Burton's films were heavily inspired by the darker toned '80s Batman comics of the time.

I really wanted to like Super 8. Abrams did a valiant effort trying to capture the feel of those Amblin films but a large part of their charm is in the writing. Something Abrams has never understood. Most of the characters in Super 8 were either bland or obnoxious. It lacked that lighthearted wholesome charm that marked the films he so badly wanted to emulate.

Abrams is a master of pacing. All of his films move at a satisfying speed but the story always suffers due to sloppy writing.

Which is a fate I hope TFA can avoid with Kasdan on board.