In an interview with the BBC, J.J. Abrams talked about his thoughts on Star Wars: Episode VII, and explains how directing it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for him.
As you know, the director turned it down at first. He admits that he is worried about being seen as the guy who "reboots" franchises. "It was one of the main reasons I initially said no to Star Wars, I thought, 'I can't be that guy.'" I don't think Star Wars would be considered a reboot though because it's a sequel to an ongoing saga.
Before Star Wars came knocking at his door, the director was working on a small comedy drama that was supposed to be the next film he would direct.
And then Star Wars came along. It was one of those things where Star Wars felt like one of those once in a lifetime opportunities that forced me to stop and reconsider whatever the rulebook was.
It's a good thing he did that too. It's exciting that he's going to be directing it! Abrams is also a huge Star Wars fan-boy, and he explains how he is going to have to try and suppress his "geeky fan-boy" excitement about the project,
It's just about approaching it from as authentic a place as possible, and not trying to apply what you believe or think, as much as trying to filter everything and get at it from the core of the characters. [It should be] what you deeply want to see, never what you assume the fans might like.
Abrams goes on to say that he's not concerned with the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises feeling similar explaining,
To me they are such wildly disparate universes - the back story, the tone, the mood, certainly the history [and] the characters - that I'm in no way worried.
Head on over to BBC to read the rest of the interview as he talks about other things like where he would like to see TV go.
Do you think Episode VII could end up being better than anything Lucas has already done with the franchise?