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"JJ Abrams is set to direct the next Star Wars movie. The Star Trek helmer will oversee Episode 7 in the sci-fi movie franchise, which was announced last year after Disney acquired Lucasfilm in a multi-billion dollar deal.   The Wrap reports that Argo&amp;#039;s Ben Affleck was also in contention for the coveted position, but that Abrams has won the role. An insider also told Deadline: &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a done deal with JJ.&amp;quot; Abrams had appeared to rule himself out of the running to direct the film in December, citing his commitment to Star Trek. &amp;gt; JJ Abrams to direct &amp;#039;Star Wars Episode 7&amp;#039;: Hollywood reactions &amp;quot;There were the very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to Star Trek, and also just being a fan [of Star Wars], I wouldn&amp;#039;t even want to be involved in the next version of those things,&amp;quot; he previously said. &amp;quot;I declined any involvement very early on. I&amp;#039;d rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them.&amp;quot;  (Pictured above: &amp;#039;Star Wars&amp;#039; creator George Lucas speaks to JJ Abrams) Star Wars Episode 7 - due to be released in 2015 - is being written by Toy Story 3 screenwriter Michael Arndt. Joss Whedon, Guillermo del Toro, Wes Anderson and Steven Spielberg had all previously ruled themselves out of helming the film, while Zack Snyder was forced to deny that he was prepping a non-trilogy Star Wars film based loosely on Seven Samurai. Star Wars series in pictures:  Ewan McGregor, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill have expressed a willingness to return to the franchise, with Harrison Ford reportedly hoping to play Han Solo again. Samuel L Jackson has also voiced his excitement about the new films, and quipped that his character Jedi Master Mace Windu could easily return despite appearing to die in Revenge of the Sith. &amp;quot;[I&amp;#039;m] totally geeked by the idea of there being more Star Wars,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s like, okay, Obi-Wan was dead when episode four started, so maybe everyone thinks I&amp;#039;m dead and we&amp;#039;ll find out what happened to Mace Windu.  &amp;quot;I can come back as one-armed or a one-handed Jedi that&amp;#039;s still around that didn&amp;#039;t actually die.&amp;quot; Watch Ewan McGregor discuss the upcoming Star Wars films with Digital Spy below:   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/star-wars/news/a453679/jj-abrams-set-to-direct-star-wars-episode-7/>