After having a hand in roughly 80% of the science fiction on television and rebooting the longest running sci-fi franchise to not involve blue boxes, J.J. Abrams is taking the reins of the next Star Wars film.
According to both The Wrap and Deadline, the filmmaker beat out Ben Affleck for the job of directing the sequel, set for a 2015 release. What this means for Star Trek 3 is still too soon to know, but it’s a safe bet Kirk will have a new boss next time.
The announcement comes as a bit of a surprise, as Abrams himself said that he wasn’t interested in November:
Look, Star Wars is one of my favorite movies of all time. I frankly feel that – I almost feel that, in a weird way, the opportunity for whomever it is to direct that movie, it comes with the burden of being that kind of iconic movie and series. I was never a big Star Trek fan growing up, so for me, working on Star Trek didn’t have any of that, you know, almost fatal sacrilege, and so, I am looking forward more then anyone to the next iterations of Star Wars, but I believe I will be going as a paying moviegoer!
It would seem he was convinced. Now get ready for the barrage of lightsaber lens flare jokes that will only increase as Episode VII‘s release gets nearer.
