Now playing in select theaters and available OnDemand is director Kyle Newman’s (Fanboys) action-comedy Barely Lethal. The film stars Hailee Steinfeld as a teenage assassin who’s a master of lethal techniques, but doesn’t quite want to live the life of a killer. She decides to fake her death and try being a normal high school student, but she can’t escape her training or old foes. The movie also stars Samuel L. JacksonJessica AlbaSophie TurnerThomas MannGabriel Basso, and Dove Cameron. For more on the film, watch the trailer.

If you’ve been reading Collider for any length of time, you know Kyle Newman and I have a long history of talking about Star Wars (here’s my favorite debate where we discuss the prequels in the Soho house parking lot). So when I sat down with him at the Barely Lethal press day, I thought it only fitting to talk about J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the two teaser trailers, and his thoughts on spoilers. In addition to Star Wars, I got an update on Chewie (the Black List script about Peter Mayhew making Star Wars) and what it was like collaborating with Taylor Swift on a music video and her tour.

If you missed what Newman said about making Barely Lethal, click here.

 


Kyle Newman:

  • 00:04 - His thoughts on the two Star Wars: The Force Awakens teasers.
  • 00:22 - Watching the second teaser at Star Wars Celebration.
  • 01:02 - Going into Star Wars: The Force Awakens “spoiler full.”
  • 01:33 - Why he thinks he loves the prequels more than most.
  • 02:19 - Episode VII needs to be aware of all six previous films.
  • 03:02 - Are the sequels and anthology films in good shape?
  • 03:47 - The need to respect that Star Wars is its own genre; why the new films can’t try to be cooler than a Star Wars film.
  • 04:46 - JJ Abrams is in good shape; you need a certain tone, texture and levity in these films.
  • 05:05 - It’s an amazing time for Star Wars; we need a Star Wars theme park.
  • 05:31 - On the status of Chewie.
  • 06:20 - On directing a music video for Taylor Swift.
  • 07:08 - He did some work on her tour as well and it includes lots of celebrity cameos.

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