Has Lucasfilm found its director to helm STAR WARS EPISODE VII? According to entertainment site The Wrap, yes. And it’s STAR TREK director J.J. Abrams. But hang on, didn’t he flat out turn it down a couple of months ago? Correct. Was he just being sneaky (as he’s want to do)? Did he know all along? Or have The Wrap just decided to snag some major traffic with some cheeky speculation? We’ll find out soon enough when Lucasfilm or Abrams comments. In the meantime, here’s J.J.’s original quote when asked if he’d be interested in directing the new trilogy…

“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!”  – J.J. Abrams

STAR WARS EPISODE VII is released in 2015.

Still no official word, but several of Abrams’ peers have Tweeted congrats to their filmmaking friend. Since it’s not typical for industry folk to jump on speculation like this, this might just be the best indication yet that an official announcement is imminent… 

“Hey, JJ Abrams. You know…you know…” and “Congratulations JJ. No pressure. :-)” said his Star Trek crew @ZacharyLevi & @simonpegg respectively. Responding to a fan’s query over the legitimacy of the news, Into Darkness writer @boborci replied, “True!”. 

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