LOS ANGELES -- This year’s Academy Awards are behind us, but J.J. Abrams already has predicted Mark Hamill will be in the running for an Oscar next year for his turn as Luke Skywalker in the next Star Wars film.

Abrams rebooted the franchise with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015 and is producing the sequel, “The Last Jedi,” directed by Rian Johnson. “I think we are all going to be very upset if he does not win an Oscar, and no one more upset than Mark,” Abrams told the New York Daily News.

Hamill briefly appeared as Skywalker in “The Force Awakens,” but didn’t have any dialogue.

“The Last Jedi” hits theaters in December.