Disney has confirmed that the man who rebooted Star Trek for the big screen, JJ Abrams, is to turn his attention to the rival franchise Star Wars.

Kathleen Kennedy, the President of Lucasfilm – bought by Disney last month, said he was the perfect director to helm the seventh installment of the galactic saga.

“Beyond having such great instincts as a filmmaker, he has an intuitive understanding of this franchise. He understands the essence of the Star Wars experience,” Kennedy said in a statement.

The film, due for release in 2015, will be written by Toy Story 3’s Michael Arndt. Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote episodes Five and Six – The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi – will be a consultant on the project.

Abrams, who told the Los Angeles times in 2009 that Star Wars was always “more my thing” than Star Trek, said it was an “absolute honour” to get the job. “I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid,” he said.

Lucas, who founded the Star Wars franchise but has since handed over the reigns to Kennedy, said he’d consistently been impressed with Abrams as a filmmaker and storyteller. “He’s an ideal choice to direct the new Star Wars film and the legacy couldn’t be in better hands.”