Lucasfilm is smacking down gossip that was going around Comic-Con last weekend that highly vaunted director JJ Abrams was about to drop out of directing Star Wars: Episode VII.
“There is no truth to the rumor,” the company said in a statement. “J.J. is having a great time working on the script and is looking forward to going into production next year.”
Since coming aboard the franchise last fall, Abrams has been collaborating closely with producer Kathleen Kennedy and veterans of the original trilogy, including Empire Strikes Back scribe Lawrence Kasdan, to map out his vision for the highly anticipated installment, the first since 2005’s George Lucas-helmed prequel, Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith.
But word that he was supposedly considering withdrawing from what is certainly one of the most coveted gigs in Hollywood was sparked by an online report in Badass Digest. While talking about who’ll be writing the next Star Trek sequel, the site referenced sources as saying the filmmaker—who also helmed 2009’s Star Trek reboot and this summer’s Star Trek Into Darkness—had been threatening to bail on Lucasfilm, but later updated its story to note that it never reported Abrams as leaving.
In fact, it was only six weeks ago that Abrams told colleagues at the Producers Guild of America’s Produced By conference that he’ll be moving to London by year’s end to prep filming on the new Star Wars movie set to begin in early 2014.
