J.J. Abrams discusses "Star Wars VII" - well, a little bit

"Your destiny lies with me Abrams. George knew this to be true."

A famous story that began "a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" returns to filming soon on Earth.

Director J.J. Abrams said over the weekend that the filming of "Star Wars: Episode VII" will begin in January in London. Abrams was speaking Saturday at a film conference for film producers in Los Angeles. Several media outlets, including The Christian Science Monitor and The Christian Post, reported on his comments.

The location of the filming is notable, since all six previous movies in the series were shot in London while Abrams has to this point in his career directed all of his films in Los Angeles. Relocating overseas "really does make me insane," Abrams told the Produced By Conference.

Abrams may not be so true to other "Star Wars" traditions, however, also saying: "I think that the thing is so big and so massive to so many people that the key to moving forward is honoring but not revering what went before."

Exactly what that means already is driving fans into a frenzy. We know that some of the beloved players from the original trilogy - Mark Hammill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) – have signed on for "Episode VII." The questions is, how does Abrams use them while jump-starting a series that took creative and artistic steps backward under creator George Lucas in the second trilogy?

We know he breathed new life into the "Star Trek" franchise. Can he do the same for "Star Wars"?

One possible clue: Disney, which purchased the franchise from Lucas, has hired screenwriter Michael Arndt ("Toy Story 3") to team with Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," to work on the script.

Of course, we won't know for sure until the movie is released in the summer of 2015.