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"JJ Abrams has been officially confirmed as director of Star Wars: Episode VII. Insiders told The Wrap and Deadline that the Star Trek helmer was to replace George Lucas on the next instalment of the space adventure, the first to be produced following Disney&amp;#039;s purchase of Lucas-founded production company Lucasfilm. The news of Abrams&amp;#039;s involvement in the franchise has now been confirmed by Lucasfilm.   A statement from the production company said: &amp;quot;After a bevy of emails and phone calls, the formalities have been wrapped up, and at long last everyone can exhale and properly share the word with an excited Internet. &amp;quot;Yes, JJ Abrams will direct Star Wars: Episode VII, the first of a new series of Star Wars films to come from Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy. Abrams will be directing and Academy Award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay.&amp;quot; Abrams said: &amp;quot;To be a part of the next chapter of the Star Wars saga, to collaborate with Kathy Kennedy and this remarkable group of people, is an absolute honour. I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid.&amp;quot; Commenting on his successor, Lucas said that he has been &amp;quot;consistently impressed&amp;quot; with Abrams &amp;quot;as a filmmaker and storyteller&amp;quot;. He added: &amp;quot;The legacy couldn&amp;#039;t be in better hands.&amp;quot; Kathleen Kennedy, the new head of Lucasfilm and Star Wars Episode VII producer, said: &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s very exciting to have JJ aboard leading the charge as we set off to make a new Star Wars movie. JJ is the perfect director to helm this. &amp;quot;Beyond having such great instincts as a filmmaker, he has an intuitive understanding of this franchise. He understands the essence of the Star Wars experience, and will bring that talent to create an unforgettable motion picture.&amp;quot; Watch Ewan McGregor talk about the upcoming Star Wars film below:  Abrams previously ruled himself out of the Star Wars directing job, saying his commitment to the Star Trek franchise meant he would not be available for the project. LA Times reports that Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore has reiterated Abrams&amp;#039;s involvement in the third Star Trek film, the follow-up to upcoming sequel Star Trek: Into Darkness, and a future Mission: Impossible movie. &amp;quot;JJ will continue to develop projects for us including a new Mission: Impossible, and he is committed to produce another Star Trek,&amp;quot; Moore said. Star Trek Into Darkness hits cinemas in May, while Star Wars: Episode VII is slated for a 2015 release.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/star-wars/news/a454066/jj-abrams-confirmed-for-star-wars-still-involved-in-star-trek/>