Director J.J. Abrams has been working in Hollywood since the early 1980s. In fact, as one of the children of producers Gerald and Carol Ann Abrams, Abrams grew up in the industry. The aspiring filmmaker wrote treatments and screenplays adapted into feature films in the 1990s. Abrams ascended the ranks quickly, helming numerous action films thanks to the success of his screenplay for 1998’s Armageddon, which he co-wrote with Jonathan Hensleigh.
From Star Trek to Star Wars, Abrams remains one of the most prolific and profitable directors around. He also runs the production Bad Robot, responsible for television series like Lost. When he isn’t directing or producing, Abrams still takes time to return to his screenwriting roots.
Gone Fishin’ (1997) – 4.9
![Every J.J. Abrams Movie Script, Ranked (According To Rotten Tomatoes)](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Gone-Fishin.jpg)
Considered a box office bomb, Gone Fishin’ stars Joe Pesci and Danny Glover as a pair of bumbling fisherman. It’s the second collaboration between the duo after the Lethal Weapon series
Abrams co-wrote the screenplay for Gone Fishin‘ with frequent collaborator Jill Mazursky. Christopher Cain directs the forgettable featured, deemed formulaic and decidedly not funny at all.
Forever Young (1992) – 6.3
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Forever Young is Abrams’ first feature film as producer and writer. Directed by Steve Miner, this sci-fi romance stars Mel Gibson, Elijah Wood, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Gibson plays a test pilot who is cryogenically frozen in 1939; expecting to be woken up a year later, the pilot finds himself in 1992. Despite tepid reviews, Forever Young did well in theaters.
Taking Care Of Business (1990) – 6.5
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Taking Care of Business is Abrams’ first script that was made into a movie. While he was a senior in college, he teamed up with Jill Mazursky to develop a treatment for what would go on to become this film.
Directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Jim Belushi and Charles Grodin, Taking Care of Business is a slapstick comedy about a convict who poses as an advertising executive. Another early Abrams film received with shrugs by critics, Taking Care of Business ended up being a box office success.
Joy Ride (2001) – 6.6
![Three youths sit in a car from Joy Ride](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Joy-Ride.jpg)
Abrams and Clay Tarver wrote the screenplay for Joy Ride, directed by John Dahl. A standard road-tripping horror movie, the film stars Paul Walker, Leelee Sobieski, and Steve Zahn.
Zahn’s character Fuller pulls a practical joke on the wrong person, as a truck-driving psychopath known as Rusty Nails pursues Fuller and his friends. Joy Ride was a moderate box office success that was followed up by two sequels.
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019) – 6.7
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Abrams did more than direct and produce the final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy; he also co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio. In The Rise of Skywalker, Daisy Ridley’s Rey, John Boyega’s Finn, and Oscar Isaac’s Poe lead the Resistance’s climatic final battle against Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren and the First Order.
The Resistance’s efforts are thwarted by the return of Emperor Palpatine, who just so happens to be Rey’s grandfather. While reviews are mixed, The Rise of Skywalker is seen as a decent conclusion to the epic franchise.
Armageddon (1998) – 6.7
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Michael Bay’s Armageddon is considered a milestone in the evolution of big-budget disaster movies, one of the first to combine romance, special effects, and action movie tropes. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay for Armageddon with Jonathan Hensleigh.
Starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and Liv Tyler, the film follows a deep-sea oil drill team who is given the task of a lifetime: saving the world from a Texas-sized meteor set to collide with Earth in 18 days. Critics weren’t impressed with the film, but audiences loved it, putting Abrams on the map.
Regarding Henry (1991) – 6.7
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J.J. Abrams produced and wrote the script for Regarding Henry, a family drama starring Harrison Ford and Annette Bening. Ford plays a man recovering from a gunshot wound after being shot while interrupting a robbery.
As Henry recovers his memories and learns to walk and speak again, he strives to rebuild his relationship with his estranged family. Despite direction from Mike Nichols and good acting, Regarding Henry was poorly received by critics, who found its plot derivative and shallow.
Mission: Impossible III (2006) – 6.9
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Abrams made his directorial debut with the third installment in the Mission: Impossible feature franchise. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
Starring Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, Mission: Impossible III sees Hunt a retired agent who is forced back into action to hunt down the elusive arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Considered better than its predecessors, this MI film fared well in theaters.
Super 8 (2011) – 7.0
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Abrams wrote, produced, and directed this monster movie that is equal parts entertaining and thrilling. Set in 1979, Super 8 follows a group of teenagers making a movie with a Super 8 camera when chaos erupts in their city.
A throwback to classic sci-fi movies, Super 8 pays homage to its predecessors like Stand by Me and E.T. while weaving its own unique narrative. The film stars Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, and Joel Courtney.
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) – 7.9
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There’s no doubt Abrams landed the new Star Wars sequel thanks to his work on Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. The Force Awakens merges the franchise’s classic characters with a cast of new ones, becoming the third highest-grossing movie of all time.
In addition to directing The Force Awakens, Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt. The first film in the sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens was followed by The Last Jedi in 2017, written and directed by Rian Johnson.