During a conference call for his upcoming TV series Almost Human, director J.J. Abrams finally spoke out about taking over the writing duties on Star Wars: Episode VII with Lawrence Kasdan. Here's what he had to say, revealing that the time crunch to get production started was the primary reason for the change.

"It became clear that given the time frame and given the process and the way the thing was going that working with Larry in this way was going to get us where we need to be and when we needed to be. Working with Larry Kasdan, especially on a Star Wars movie is kind of unbeatable."

Our report from last week revealed that producer Kathleen Kennedy and her team wanted to push the release date to 2016, although Disney's Bob Iger demanded the sequel be released in 2015. It still isn't known if the studio is planning to release the film in the summer of 2015, or towards the end of that year.

The director also praised the work of original screenwriter Michael Arndt, hinting that he may be called upon for future Star Wars projects.

"Working with Michael was a wonderful experience and I couldn't be a bigger fan of his or adore him more, He's a wonderful guy and was incredibly helpful in the process. That doesn't preclude working with Michael again in the future. He is one of the best writers around."

Production is scheduled to begin early next year at Pinewood Studios in London.