JJ Abrams has revealed that there is plenty of teaser material he could share about Star Wars: The Force Awakens – but wants to wait until the time is right.

The filmmaker – who hosted the Oscar Wilde US-Ireland Alliance party at his Bad Robot studio in Santa Monica, California, honouring Stephen Colbert, Carrie Fisher and artist Colin Davidson – admitted there is an “abundance of riches” from the upcoming film, which stars returning cast members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.

“First of all, I’m always grateful that people would be asking. But the truth is it’s like we haven’t shown anything,” he said.

“There’s sort of an abundance of riches with the stuff we could put out so we’re just trying to make sure it’s as good as it could be before we put anything out. The disaster would be to race something out for the sake of making an impact and it being not as good as people deserve.”

JJ Abrams and Katie McGrath
JJ and wife Katie McGrath (Chase Rollins/AFF/EMPICS Entertainment)

JJ, who will be taking the reins on the seventh instalment of the sci-fi franchise, added: “We don’t want to be coy but we have almost a year until the movie comes out, so we have to be smart about what we say and when. We’re always having conversations about it.”

The 48-year-old director, who hosted the gala, reassured fans that the film will be worth waiting for.

“I would say thank you for being interested. Thank you for your patience and honestly, I can’t wait for you to see the film,” he said.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, also starring Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, John Boyega and Domhnall Gleeson, opens in UK cinemas on December 18.