That George Lucas and the Hollywood studios have not been the best of bedfellows is a well-known fact. After the difficulties of convincing studio execs of the viability of a certain space opera in 1977, Lucas has preferred to keep his productions firmly under his own control. Until his retirement last May, he oversaw a production empire that includes Lucasfilm, Skywalker Sound and one of the industry’s premier effects houses Industrial Light and Magic, not to mention the multitude of tie-ins and merchandise related to his greatest successes, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.

            But confidence had slipped from the studio too. Lucas was forced to inject $58 million of his personal fortune into his latest (and, as it turns out last) project Red Tails after the film failed to find major studio backing. The obstacle clearly is Lucas himself: the films he produced when afforded the luxury of complete creative control were financially successful because of their franchise ancestry rather than any sort of critical merit. The characters and plot of the entire Star Wars prequel trilogy served as vacant containers to a visual effects “spectacle” that ultimately produced sterile and lifeless environments. And while Attack of the Clones remains significant as the first film shot entirely on a digital medium, the reputation of innovation had been yielded to kiwi-based Weta Digital.

            However, the Star Wars universe is still far too big a cash-cow for the studios to sit idly by and with irony hanging heavily in the air, Lucas oversaw the transfer of control back to Hollywood. Disney forked out over $4 billion (a bargain, wouldn’t you say?) in October and have wasted no time green-lighting a new era of adventures in a galaxy far, far away. Tentatively referred to as Star Wars: Episode VII, the project has now found its way to the hands of director and producer J.J. Abrams. It’s a safe choice in many ways: Although let down by its resolution, Super 8 (2011) proved Abrams adept at handling large-scale action as well as intimate character drama. Most prominently however, he’s the man who revived the Star Trek franchise with such panache and whose second chapter  - Into Darkness - will be released this May.

            The Trekkie connection may yet prove difficult for Abrams. The two franchises are generally considered irreconcilable universes - the antitheses of science fiction. Fan reaction across the internet has however been largely positive and Abrams has the backing of both Disney and Lucas (he’s not quite relinquished responsibilities). The task is enviable as well as daunting: Not only does Abrams need to captivate an entirely new generation of moviegoers who have not grown up with the classic Star Wars films, he needs to win back all those disillusioned with the prequels. Episode VII has been penciled in for a 2015 release and Abrams will face anticipation on a level equal of greater than that accompanying The Phantom Menace in 1999. May the force be with him.