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"[UPDATE: The story is now official. Read about George Lucas' announcement here.]\nIt seems Star Wars Episode VII has found its director.\nAccording to multiple Hollywood outlets, the job has been offered to J.J. Abrams \u2014 creator of Alias and Lost, and director of both the rebooted and the upcoming Star Trek movies. \nThat in itself may present a problem. Star Trek's rights are owned by Disney rival Paramount; that studio, along with many fans, will not want to see the two series united under a single director.\nSEE ALSO: Star Wars Just Got a New Lease on Life\nBut the directorship of the next episode of Star Wars, due in 2015, is a \"done deal\" between Disney and Abrams, according to reports from Hollywood blogs Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap, which reported the story first. Variety also carried the report, but without offering sources. Lucasfilm and Disney spokespeople did not return calls for comment. \n\"Lucasfilm Chief Kathleen Kennedy has been courting Abrams,\" claims The Wrap. We imagine she'd be a hard person to turn down; Kennedy has been involved in producing mega-hits from E.T. and Jurassic Park to Lincoln.  But color us a little skeptical; after all, Abrams has already said publicly that he isn't interested in the job \u2014 denying it to Empire magazine and Entertainment Weekly. \"I have some original stuff I am working on next,\" he told EW.\nHere's what he told Empire:\nThere were the very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to Star Trek, and also just being a fan, I wouldn't even want to be involved in the next version of those things. 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.\nAbrams may not have that luxury any longer. We'll update this story as we hear more. But would you want to see Star Wars and Star Trek directed by the same guy? Give us your take in the comments. \nPhoto courtesy of Flickr, Gage Skidmore"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/01/24/j-j-abrams-star-wars-episode-vii/>