J.J. Abrams' passion for the Star Wars movies has been well documented over the years. However, his position as the new director for the franchise has shifted this perspective of Abrams and the curiosity over his direction with the series has increased.
During an interview with Empire Magazine, the director expressed what he admired most about the franchise.
"It did comedy, it did drama, it did romance, it did action-adventure, it did spectacle and scope and scale," he noted. "When I saw that movie, it was like another echelon of mind expansion. It balanced so incredibly character, pyrotechnics and ground-breaking visuals - but more importantly, ground-breaking ideas."
What ground-breaking ideas? Abrams elaborated: "You take for granted so many things about it that were really novel concepts, not just visually interesting things. The sets were incredible, the miniatures, what was done with opticals, what was done with matte painting on glass. The truth is, it was so unbelievably ballsy and out there."
"Star Wars Episode 7" will be written by Academy Award winner Michael Arndt and is slated for a 2015 release. In the interim, Abrams will promote his upcoming "Star Trek Into Darkness" which premieres on May 17, 2013.
Abrams' future with the latter franchise is unresolved and Empire Star Trek Into Darkness writer Richard Orc stated that Abrams' addition to Star Wars could create problems between Paramount and Disney as they vie for the director's attention on their prominent franchises. "This is going to affect calendars and now it's two massive corporations having to vie for the right attention to each of these properties," Orc noted. "But hopefully it will be fine. I don't know how much Paramount and other studios have to cooperate with each other. But I think everyone will explore every possibility fairly. And even if he goes completely Star Wars, we know now - he can't ever deny it - he is a big Star Trek fan!"