Movies With Butter

Now that J.J. Abrams is officially on board to bring the Star Wars saga into its Disney-produced, largely Lucas-free future, fans are getting busy debating the important stuff: What it'll look like, who it'll focus on, and whether Abrams was really the best choice for the job. And as it turns out, Abrams' busy schedule -- which also includes producing at least one more Star Trek sequel -- may mean we'll have longer to debate those issues than we thought.

In fact, according to the Hollywood Reporter, one condition of Abrams' deal to direct Episode VII was that he didn't have to commit to Disney's planned 2015 release date. For some fans, this is bound to be frustrating, but it's hard not to commend Abrams for wanting to take his time with what's arguably the most important gig of his career.

Based on the few public comments he's made since scoring the job, Abrams seems to appreciate the gravity of the situation -- as well as possessing an appropriate level of fanboy glee. To the Huffington Post, he enthused that "I can just say what I want to do: I want to do the fans proud. I want to make sure the story is something that touches people. And we're just getting started. I'm very excited." In a separate chat with E!, he added, "It really is an incredible thing. It's wildly surreal. It's obviously way too early to talk specifics ... but I'm excited to actually start it."

The uptake: We might have to make do with a few more years of re-watching the original trilogy (or whatever Lucasized versions thereof we happen to have in our home libraries), but eventually, we'll get to return to that galaxy far, far away, courtesy of a talented filmmaker with his heart in the right place. After the prequels, that's worth being thankful for.

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