JJ Abrams Talks ‘Star Wars Episode 7′

It seems impossible that 'Star Wars Episode 7' is still two years (at least) away. It feels like we've been talking about it forever! Then again, if we feel exhausted by it, imagine how director JJ Abrams must feel...and he hasn't even begun shooting yet. Although he's not allowed to say anything solid yet (and he's JJ freakin' Abrams, so he wouldn't say anything even if he could), the 'Star Trek Into Darkness' director recently discussed the project, talking about what it means to be attached to what's undoubtedly going to be one of the biggest movies of all time.

Speaking with Empire, Abrams talked about how he approached 'Star Wars' after already taking on 'Star Trek.' After all, he was never a 'Trek' fan and could approach it objectively and without preconceived notions (which resulted in a big hit), but he's a huge 'Star Wars' fan. How does that color the process?

“I don’t know because we’re just getting started. So it’s a great question that I hope I’ll have a good answer to when I know what the answer is. There are infinitely more questions than answers right now, but to me, they’re not that dissimilar. Though I came at these both from very different places, where they both meet is a place of ‘Ooh, that’s really exciting.’ And even though I was never a Star Trek fan, I felt like there was a version of it that would make me excited, that I would think ‘that’s cool, that feels right, I actually would want to see that."

He also talked about how he made the decision to join the production...and how his commitments to 'Star Trek' almost kept him from getting involved:

“My knee-jerk reaction was that I’m in the middle of working on the Star Trek movie and I can’t even consider it. But then time went by and I got further along working on the movie and getting to a place where I had done most of the heavy lifting. So when I met with Kathy Kennedy we just started discussing it and I was able to actually engage in the conversation. I went down to tell Katie, my wife and I said ‘I had just a very interesting conversation with Kathy.’ That was the beginning."

And while 'Star Wars Episode 7' will be the biggest film of Abrams' career, it's not like he doesn't have Hollywood's best, brightest and most powerful in corner. In addition to Disney and LucasFilm honcho Kathleen Kennedy, he's also touched base with the most famous filmmaker in the world on the project:

"I will say that Steven [Spielberg] was very encouraging of Star Wars. It’s funny because I talked to him about it and it turned out he knew all about what was going on.”

'Star Wars Episode 7' is still scheduled for a Summer 2015 release. You can check out additional quotes from Abrams at the link above or read the full interview when the next issue of Empire hits the stands on March 28th.