With Star Trek Into Darkness hitting theaters in just a few weeks, director J.J. Abrams has been making the press rounds, where the talk naturally gravitates towards Star Wars: Episode VII. The filmmaker revealed that he initially said no to directing the sci-fi sequel because he didn't want to be seen strictly as a director who only reboots franchises.

"It was one of the main reasons I initially said no to Star Wars. I thought, 'I can't be that guy.'"

However, it didn't take long for the director to realize this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"There's a story that we are working on that's a small comedy drama, that I assumed would be the next movie I was going to direct. And then Star Wars came along. It was one of those things where Star Wars felt like one of those once in a lifetime opportunities that forced me to stop and reconsider whatever the rulebook was."

While he didn't discuss any specific story details, J.J. Abrams did break down his approach to the franchise.

"It's just about about approaching it from as authentic a place as possible, and not trying to apply what you believe or think, as much as trying to filter everything and get at it from the core of the characters. [It should be] what you deeply want to see, never what you assume the fans might like."

When asked if he was worried that both his Star Trek and Star Wars will have the same look and feel, the filmmaker revealed he was not concerned about that aspect.

"To me they are such wildly disparate universes - the back story, the tone, the mood, certainly the history [and] the characters - that I'm in no way worried."

It isn't known when production will begin on Star Wars: Episode VII, which is being written by Michael Arndt (Oblivion, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire).