J.J. Abrams to direct next "Star Wars" movie

The "Star Trek" director is about to cross into another nerd universe

Published January 24, 2013 10:50PM (EST)

The search for the next "Star Wars" director is over. TheWrap reports that sci-fi director J.J. Abrams will take on Disney's highly publicized, highly controversial project, "Star Wars: Episode VII." And an insider has confirmed the news with Deadline as well, saying, "It's a done deal with J.J."

The news comes as a surprise, especially since Abrams was one of the first directors to announce he would pass on the role -- and because he already has an allegiance to rival nerd franchise, "Star Trek." He told Empire Magazine:

“There were the very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to ‘Star Trek’, and also just being a [‘Star Wars’] fan, I wouldn’t even want to be involved in the next version of those things.”

As Redditor elthomas21 notes, "He is breaking the nerd barrier and uniting us as one." But will it be, as SadPeenut speculates, "too much power for one man"? Indeed, it might. Only time will tell whether Abrams will cross over to the dark side, but until then, nerds everywhere are speculating what "StarTrekWars" might look like ... and to be honest, it sounds pretty good:

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By Prachi Gupta

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com.

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Jj Abrams Movies Sci-fi Science-fiction Star Trek Star Trek Wars Star Wars Star Wars 7