According to The Hollywood Reporter, J.J. Abrams has agreed to direct Star Wars Episode VII.
Along with Matthew Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Ben Affleck and David Fincher, the Star Trek director was one of the names being bandied around after Disney announced plans for a new trilogy last fall. Abrams even confirmed in an interview last month that he had conversations with producer Kathleen Kennedy about directing the new films, but turned it down.
“[T]here were the very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to Star Trek, and also just being a fan, I wouldn’t even want to be involved in the next version of those things,” he told Empire (via Coming Soon). “I declined any involvement very early on. I’d rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them.”
Well it appears the force was too much for Abrams to resist, which most likely puts his future involvement with the rebooted Star Trek series in jeopardy.
The deal hasn’t been officially announced, but the film is due in 2015, with Episode VIII and IX following in three-year increments. So, Abrams will have to get cracking soon.
Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine) is writing the script, with Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg penning the other two.
So, with that settled, what do you think of Abrams as Disney’s Star Wars choice? Good, bad, indifferent? Let us know in the comments.
