J.J. Abrams Set to Direct Next ‘Star Wars’ Movie

From TheWrap:

J.J. Abrams will direct the next “Star Wars” film for Disney, taking stewardship of one of Hollywood's most iconic and lucrative film franchises, an individual with knowledge of the production told TheWrap.

Ever since Disney bought Lucasfilm last year and announced it would make new “Star Wars” films, fans, members of the media and industry executives have speculated about which director would take the job. Abrams' name always came up, but he told Entertainment Weekly in November that he wasn't going to take the job.

Though he has several producing jobs in front of him, Abrams had been uncommitted as a director. He will have to jump right into “Star Wars,” which Disney has slated for a 2015 release. “Little Miss Sunshine” screenwriter Michael Arndt is penning the script.

 

Abrams' resume is stacked. He's the co-creator of “Lost,” he directed the second best “Mission Impossible” flick, and he made “Star Trek” accessible to those of us who have spoken to women before. He can handle the action. The screenwriter choice is a little more unusual. Arndt is best known for writing “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Toy Story 3,” which are fine movies, I guess, but it's weird to see him doing this.

Anyway, this is the real news in the story:

“Argo” director Ben Affleck was also in contention, another individual with knowledge of the talks told TheWrap.

 

Affleck?! What the fuck can't he do at this point? Someone take him down a notch, please.

There we go.