After weeks of rambling rumors, denials, and many other shortlist stories, it is now confirmed that J.J. Abrams will be directing Star Wars: Episode VII. Lucasfilm Chief and Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy has apparently been courting Abrams for a while, and Abrams himself “revealed” in December that he turned down the directing gig because he’d “rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making the film.” Looks like if the producers would be gambling something as big as Star Wars, at least gamble on somebody who seems to know how to make it right. And I assume they never stopped bugging Abrams about it.
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Ever since Disney first announced that they were purchasing Lucasfilm and moving forward with a new series of Star Wars movies with Kennedy spearheading the franchise as a producer, rumors have understandably been swirling over who would be directing the franchise.
The Wrap, which is the source for this news, also reports that Ben Affleck was also in consideration for the job, which is interesting. Affleck has proven himself to be an incredibly solid filmmaker, but he’s yet to make a lighter, more commercial film in the vein of Star Wars. Taking Affleck's geek roots into consideration, he might be working on those projects someday. But for now, he'd better enjoy his time with serious films that could give him all those awards.
So, now that we have a director, here’s what we know about the new Star Wars so far:
- Michael Arndt is writing the screenplay.
- Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are writing screenplays for other Star Wars films that could either be sequels to Episode VII or spinoff movies featuring other characters.
- Zack Snyder may or may not be directing a spinoff Star Wars movie set in the same universe as this new trilogy.
Abrams seems like a perfect choice indeed. Him, being a geek, has been one of the factors that made him effective in reviving iconic movie properties such as Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. In the director's commentary for Star Trek, Abrams reveals that his approach to make the movie tapped on the formula of the Star Wars movies which he has much love for. Details such as this tell us that Abrams has more than enough knowledge, familiarity, and love for the Star Wars saga, and he seems destined to direct at least one of the Star Wars movies.
For now, let's just enjoy Abram's upcoming Star Trek sequel, because it would still be a long wait until we get to see Star Wars: Episode VII to hit theaters in 2015.
source: The Wrap
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