J.J. Abrams poses stiffly with beloved robot as his initial Star Wars high wears off

J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions released the first photo of Abrams hard at work on Star Wars: Episode VII, and it shows the director posing next to R2-D2, a robot known the world over for its scene-stealing beeps as well as its more nuanced boops. Abrams’ tight smile is a game effort to hide his slowly dawning realization that this is what the next two years of his life will be: mostly standing there waiting for some contraption or another to roll, twist, or possibly wobble. (The beeps and boops are added in post.) Abrams grips his pants tightly, reminding himself to breathe and envision the day when he’ll present his finished product to fans—a day on which he will be free to bask in the lifetime of unanimous adulation that all directors of Star Wars films inevitably enjoy.