When it was announced earlier this year that Disney would be purchasing Lucasfilm and churning out a new Star Wars sequel trilogy, thoughts quickly turned to who would be worthy of the director's chair. Tops on many lists was J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), who promptly squashed any rumors by taking himself out of the running. Recently, Abrams further commented on refusing the position to direct Star Wars: Episode VII, saying he's a fan of Star Wars and would rather be a viewer in the audience than a force behind the camera. Hit the jump for his comments.In a recent interview with Empire, Abrams commented on the upcoming Star Wars film as follows:

"I guess the franchises could go up against each other, but I'm not thinking that far ahead! I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, Empire and Jedi, and the idea of the world continuing is exciting and will be amazing. Kathy Kennedy is a friend and there are no smarter producers. 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."

That quote is in line with his earlier comments that firmly place Abrams as a fan of Star Wars who just wants to enjoy the new films:

“Look, Star Wars is one of my favorite movies of all time. I frankly feel that – I almost feel that, in a weird way, the opportunity for whomever it is to direct that movie, it comes with the burden of being that kind of iconic movie and series. I was never a big Star Trek fan growing up, so for me, working on Star Trek didn’t have any of that, you know, almost fatal sacrilege, and so, I am looking forward more then anyone to the next iterations of Star Wars, but I believe I will be going as a paying moviegoer!”

Be sure to catch up on all of our previous and ongoing coverage of Star Wars here.

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