Simon Pegg has said that he feels JJ Abrams will help "invigorate" the Star Wars franchise.

The British actor - who has worked under Abrams in a number of projects - stated that the director will bring the series up-to-date in the same way he has with the two Star Trek films.

Ian West/PA Wire

Abrams will oversee the next new chapter of the Star Wars series, set after the events of the original three parts directed by George Lucas.

Pegg told Total Film: "What will he bring to the franchise? Everything that was missing from the last three.

"That's what he did to Star Trek, really - invigorate it with a little bit of Star Wars magic. He switched it from science fiction to science fantasy.

"And I think if anyone can pull [Star Wars] out of the mire, it's JJ. He'll bring the fun back. Lucas seemed to misread what made the first ones great, and concentrate on things that people didn't really care about, or wilfully ignore the things that people cared about. Whereas JJ will embrace them all."

Star Wars actors: Then & nowHe added: "We're going to see the Millennium Falcon again. We're going to see those characters again. All the things that we loved about the first three, we will see again."



Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill are signed on to return as Han Solo, Leia and Luke Skywalker respectively.

Pegg reprises his role of Scotty in Abrams's Star Trek Into Darkness, which is released today (May 9) in the UK, and May 17 in the US. Watch Digital Spy's video review of the film below:

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