Samuel L. Jackson Circling New J.J. Abrams Movie With Glen Powell, Jenna Ortega And Emma Mackey

Christopher Nolan may be stacking the deck with the cast of his mysterious next film right now, but he's not the only major filmmaker out there aligning stars for a secrecy shrouded project. Five years after his last directorial effort, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker, J.J. Abrams is preparing to get back in the saddle with an original new offering. And now, having already snapped up Glen Powell, Jenna Ortega, and Emma Mackey to lead his latest, it looks like the Super 8 director has found the next big name for the call sheet — Samuel L. Jackson.

Per Deadline's reporting, Jackson — a man who, like J.J., has spent more than a little time himself in the Star Wars universe — is in negotiations to join the cast for Abrams' next film, an as-yet-untitled Warner Bros. and Bad Robot co-production. At this stage, we know next to nothing about what Abrams is cooking up over at his Bad Robot HQ, beyond the oddly specific fact that it is *not* a time-travel movie, a point on which clarification was apparently necessary. Oh, and that J.J. Abrams is writing the script for this one himself, making this his first fully self-written and directed effort since Super 8 all the way back in 2011. So as far as Jackson's proposed role in the picture goes, we can confirm he won't be playing Mace Windu (probably), and that's about it.

Now, although we know precious little about Abrams' return to the directorial hotseat just yet (we don't even know when it'll start shooting at this point), the movie will represent a welcome change of pace for both the moviemaker and his stars, who've each at different points found themselves tied up in franchise fare, reboots, and sequels of some description in recent years. For how long Abrams will keep his cards close to his chest and maintain his shroud of mystery, only time will tell — and this is the man behind Lost we're talking about here. But whatever it eventually turns out to be, with this cast and this director at the helm, it's no secret that we'll be first in line for tickets to see what the latest J.J. Abrams joint has in store.