UPDATE: Disney has now officially confirmed this.
In a surprising turn of events, J.J. Abrams is reportedly going to direct Star Wars: Episode VII. The director had previously claimed that he turned down an offer to direct the film, saying it wasn’t the best move for his career, but it seems that he has changed his mind.
Other directors that were rumored to be in the running were Matthew Vaughn, Steven Spielberg and Ben Affleck, among others. While any of those filmmakers would have been perfectly fine, I think Abrams is an equally interesting and brilliant choice.
As you may know, Abrams is also the current director of the Star Trek franchise, with Star Trek Into Darkness coming out on May 18th. Unlike Star Trek though, he won’t be rebooting Star Wars, but continuing and launching a new trilogy out of it. Many of the original cast have been rumored to return too.
Abrams is known for his work in TV on shows like Lost, Fringe, Person of Interest and Revolution. If his work on Star Trek or Mission: Impossible wasn’t enough, this would be the movie that solidifies his role as a key player in Hollywood.
The fact that the same director is handling two major—almost rival—sci-fi franchises should excite fanboys everywhere. Those who’ve seen Star Trek know that Abrams has got what it takes to keep Star Wars going. It’ll be interesting to see how he makes them both different and distinct from each other but however he does it, you can expect him to find the same success with Star Wars that he found with Star Trek.
Of course, none of this has been officially confirmed by the studio but the sources reporting on it seem pretty confident that this is no joke. Â Iif this is indeed happening, then color me excited for 2015. With two years left, I’m glad we’re finally starting to get some concrete details for the film. I think it’s fair to say that no one saw this coming though.
What do you think? Great idea or would you have rather seen someone else handle Star Wars: Episode VII?
