J.J. Abrams To Direct 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

At long last, Disney's "Star Wars" sequel has found its director — and it's a bold choice, to say the least.

"Star Trek" filmmaker J.J. Abrams is Disney's choice to helm "Star Wars: Episode VII," according to reports published by TheWrap.com and Deadline.com. MTV News has reached out to Disney and Bad Robot representatives for confirmation; inquiries were not immediately returned.

Abrams was frequently cited as a fan-favorite pick for the "Star Wars" job, but his connection to the "Star Trek" series seemingly took him out of the running. Abrams even clarified in a December interview that he was approached by Lucasfilm to direct the new "Star Wars" movie, but he passed out of loyalty to "Trek."

"[Lucasfilm president] Kathy Kennedy is a friend and there are no smarter producers," he said at the time. "It's in great hands. There were the very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to 'Star Trek,' and also just being a fan, I wouldn't even want to be involved in the next version of those things. I declined any involvement very early on. I'd rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them."

Now, it appears that Abrams does want to be involved in the minutiae of making a "Star Wars" film. In landing the job, Abrams beats out an extensive list of rumored hopefuls including the likes of Ben Affleck and Jon Favreau. It also marks Abrams' second high-profile intergalactic franchise; his next "Star Trek" film, subtitled "Into Darkness," cruises into theaters this coming May.

"Star Wars: Episode VII," written by Michael Arndt and directed by J.J. Abrams, hits theaters in 2015.