With its release just a few weeks away, everyone is talking about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, including director J.J. Abrams, the film’s excellent ensemble cast, George Lucas, and now, Steven Spielberg. The man partially responsible for starting the blockbuster movie trend with Jaws happens to be a huge fan of Star Wars, and he has a few kind words to say for the latest installment in the classic saga.

Last week Ron Howard revealed that he, Spielberg, and Robert Zemeckis had all passed on directing The Phantom Menace, and in a new interview with RTL (via Slashfilm), Spielberg cites his fandom as the reason why he’s never helmed a Star Wars movie for his pal, George Lucas:

I’m a true fan of Star Wars, but I have always felt it was not in my stars to ever direct one. But it was in my stars to admire and attend and see each one numerous times.

The Force Awakens star Daisy Ridley says that she has yet to see the film, but Spielberg has already watched it three times. Next time a friend or family member teases you for seeing Star Wars in the theater more than once, you can now use “Spielberg did it” as an excuse.

Then the director briefly forgot all about how he produced Jurassic World, currently the biggest film of 2015, and offered this pretty hefty prediction:

And I think this new Star Wars could be the biggest movie ever.

He’s not wrong, though. Ticket pre-sales for The Force Awakens have already reached $50 million.

At this point, we should probably make it mandatory for every interviewer and late night talk show host to ask their celebrity guests how they feel about Star Wars. Just put it all out there. How does Charlize Theron feel about Star Wars? Is Tom Hardy excited for The Force Awakens? Did David Fincher suffer through websites crashing to buy his tickets early like the rest of us?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18.

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