The days of speculation and doubt can end, as J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Trek) has officially been confirmed as the director for the seventh entry to the Star Wars saga. TheWrap has reported that although Abrams initially turned down the offer from producer Kathleen Kennedy, he has had a change of heart. As in, they most likely offered him an offensive amount of money.

Now while this may get some giddy little cheers of excitement from most fans of Star Wars, the sci-fi genre, movies or life in general, this is something a little off about this choice.

Abrams aptly proved that he could handle the whole sci-fi fare when he rebooted/re-invented the Star Trek series for a new generation. As someone who wasn’t even a fan of the franchise, Abrams did a fantastic job at investing new comers and old fans alike. I tipped my hat to him and thanked him for a job well done.

So what’s funky about him taking the mantle of Star Wars? Oh maybe just the fact that now he’s in charge of both Star Wars and Star Trek! One man for two massive, massive franchises both beginning with the word star? My mind is blown.

In all fairness though, I think this is one of the best decisions Disney could have made. Now we wait until 2015 to see the result. As for how this will all fit into the rumored Samurai Star Wars flick, who’s to say.

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I’m sure you’ve all heard at this point that George Lucas sold the much beloved Star Wars franchise to Disney Corp for a whooping four billion dollars, the majority of which he donated to education-centric charities, and that a corresponding third trilogy was being prepped with Episode 7 slated for a 2014 release. This is another beast entirely. While there’s not too much news on this Zach Synder Star Wars adaptation, a few things are clear–

1) This story will not be Episode 7, nor is it likely to be a numbered addition to the saga at all.
2) The story is said to be inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s much lauded Seven Samurai
3) This experimental adaptation is unlikely to hit theaters until 2016.
4) This will run parallel to the stories told in the upcoming trilogy and won’t include any of those central characters. Cameos however are a maybe.

This is a lot to swallow considering the Episode 7 project is still without a director but it’s something we can take with a grain of salt. One thing’s for sure, it’ll be stirring up a lot of controversy and will be sure to be the talk around the water cooler, internet, communal bathing pool. Let the comments begin!

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