Star Trek director JJ Abrams is set to direct the next installment of the Star Wars franchise.

The highly anticipated Episode 7, due to be released in 2015, was announced last year after Disney took over Lucasfilm in a multi-billion dollar deal.

Carrie Fisher 50 lbs. Weight Loss (Before & After PHOTOS)

Abrams denied he was in the running for the job in December, saying he was too committed to Star Trek. ”There were the very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to Star Trek, and also just being a fan [of Star Wars], I wouldn’t even want to be involved in the next version of those things,” he told reporters. ”I declined any involvement very early on. I’d rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them.”

Actors Ewan McGregor, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Samuel L. Jackson have all expressed interest in returning for the film.

[image: WENN]