J.J. Abrams Wishes He Was Directing Episode VIII

J.J. Abrams thinks the script for Star Wars: Episode VIII is so good, he wishes he were directing it.

Greg Grunberg, Abrams’ friend who stars as the X-wing pilot Snap Wexley in The Force Awakens, says J.J. said something to him he hadn’t ever said before after he read the script for Episode VIII (via Washington Post).

"“He read it and said something he never, ever says,” Grunberg, who plays pilot Snap Wexley in the new film, tells The Post’s Comic Riffs. “He said: ‘It’s so good, I wish I were making it.’"

Episode VIII will be directed by Rian Johnson (Looper), who in turn will be replaced by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) on Episode IX. With George Lucas out for the count as director, Disney and Lucasfilm have gone back to the tradition set up during the making of the original trilogy of having a different director helm each film. The Empire Strikes Back, for which Irvin Kershner calling the shots, is often hailed as the best film in the saga.

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Abrams will remain on the creative team, however, as executive producer for Episode VIII.

I have high hopes for Episode VIII. One of the things which disappointed me about The Force Awakens was how heavily it relied on using plot points and motifs from the original trilogy. I’m hoping, now that Disney and Lucasfilm has “won back” the Star Wars fandom which, for some reason, thought the prequels were a travesty, they can begin pursuing a more original storyline in Rian Johnson’s script.