J.J. Abrams Directing Star Wars Episode VII

The Internet broke when news of Disney acquiring Lucasfilm hit the press. It's gonna break all over again.

The Wrap reports J.J. Abrams will direct Star Wars: Episode VII for Disney. Thus vacating his position from the Star Trek franchise at Paramount and proving once again that people in showbiz lie. Remember when he told Empire he wasn't interested?

Ben Affleck was also reportedly in contention. Disney and Kathleen Kennedy wanted a name to wow us right out the gate. They weren't fooling. Some will deem this a "safe" choice. They aren't wrong. But here's the thing. Abrams was able to bring the idea of advanced, futuristic technology as junk, something from the original trilogy, to his '09 Trek restart.

It's a reassuring sign that guy is gonna bring that back to Star Wars, a charm missing from the much-maligned prequels. He can also direct the Hell outta ensembles. And of course, cut to the lens flares jokes.

He's not Brad Bird, whom the Internet unanimously supported, or Jon Favreau, who was long pegged as the favorite. But I'm hard-pressed to not like this choice.

This all goes back to that announcement last October. Disney wants us to be excited about Star Wars again like when we were kids. Mission accomplished and I can't wait to hear, and see, more.