The odds were against “The Force Awakens” from the start. When Disney bought Lucasfilm near the end of 2013, they were intent on getting the first new film out in 2015. J.J. Abrams was hired to direct in 2013, with a planned release date for the first movie coming up in May 2015.
It was somewhat cynical to insist that a massive $200 million-plus production be pushed out that quickly, but it wasn’t anybody actively involved in making the movie who made that decision. And from there it was a cavalcade of chaos as Kennedy and Abrams scrambled to put a movie together from a half-written screenplay because they had no other choice.