Although the first of the new Star Wars features is still more than a year away, there's enough fan excitement for what director Rian Johnson will be doing in the sequel. And Johnson is out talking about his own excitement -- but not much in the way of story details.

Appearing on the TalkHouse Podcast with legendary director Terry Gilliam, Johnson opened up about his Star Wars experience, saying, "I’m just starting into it, but so far it’s the most fun I’ve ever had writing. It’s just joyous. The first movies I was making in my head were part of this world, so part of it is a direct connection – it’s almost like an automatic jacking-in into childhood in a weird way.”

While Johnson admitted he's still "figuring it out as I go," the director noted, "It’s a challenge of remembering what inspires you about the original films, but I think you can probably go to the wrong place by feeling too responsible to it. You have to keep your head loose enough to tell a story you actually care about.”

The director will continue to work with the Lucasfilm executive staff while J.J. Abrams finishes filming Episode VII. “Kathleen [Kennedy] and her whole creative team have been so insistent on all the filmmakers they’ve been hiring for these new movies: ‘We want you to take it and turn it into something that you really care about,'" he said. "And we’ll see how the process plays out. Because that just seems like their attitude towards it. It’s really exciting actually.”

(via Empire Online)