J.J. Abrams wants Selma director Ava DuVernay to helm Star Wars

J.J. Abrams has named Selma’s Ava DuVernay as the director he wants to make the next available Star Wars film.

Chatting on the Nerdist podcast, J.J. said: ‘The knee-jerk reaction, if I had to, is Ava DuVernay, who I think would just kill it. She is as much a fan of genre movies, and hearing her talk about not just Star Wars, but hearing her talk about those kinds of films is evidence that she would just kill it.

‘When you look at her work in Selma, which was as well-told and as sophisticated and humane a film as I think has come out in the last decade, if she can do that story that well, there’s no question she would kill this movie.’

DuVernay tweeted a link to the podcast with her opinion of the story:

The force is strong with this one. xo https://t.co/FivfnY3Mud

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) December 9, 2015

With the long list of Star Wars films in the pipeline, there’s certainly a realistic chance that DuVernay could well direct one.