LOS ANGELES, Dec. 24 (UPI) — J.J. Abrams will not be directing Episode VIII of the Star Wars trilogy, and after reading the script for it, he wishes he was.
The famed director’s longtime friend, Greg Grunberg, told The Washington Post Abrams expressed sincere remorse over opting out of directing the next film. Abrams instead will executive produce.
“He read it and said something he never, ever says,” Grunberg told the outlet. “He may have said something one time on Lost, with Damon [Lindelof], but I never hear him express regret like that.”
As George Lucas did to him, Abrams has passed the torch as Star Wars director to Rian Johnson, who helmed such films as Brick, Looper and The Brothers Bloom. The eighth installment of the wildly popular Star Wars franchise after this year’s record-breaking The Force Awakens, will be released in 2017.
Creator George Lucas believed fans were going to “love” Force Awakens ahead of its release last week. “It’s very much the kind of movie they’ve been looking for,” he is quoted as saying.
Lucas was right, as the film starring Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley broke opening weekend records across the country.
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