The new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer, unveiled on Thursday, makes the upcoming JJ Abrams-directed sequel look like a lengthy love letter to every series fan who hasn’t stopped complaining since 1999’s The Phantom Menace. From the dogfight inside the ruined hulk of a crash-landed Imperial Star Destroyer to the not-quite-a-surprise appearance in the last moments of the trailer of Han and Chewie, there’s not an uncomfortably racialized alien or a tousle-headed child in sight.
A few of the many, many Easter eggs jammed into the 110-second trailer: a robot hand, presumably Luke’s, the dunes of Jakku, a wrecked X-wing, Darth Vader’s crushed helmet, and what looks like Leia getting a lightsaber of her own. There are also new twists on old formulas: a black-armored villain who looks like an amped-up stormtrooper, a black TIE fighter, and of course Han Solo disguised as an old man … wait, no, that’s just present-day Harrison Ford.
The film opens on 18 December; the release of the new trailer coincides with California fan convention Star Wars Celebration, happening this week in Anaheim. Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew (who plays Chewbacca) and director JJ Abrams are among the Star Wars royalty in attendance.
Fan reaction was overwhelmingly positive — Reddit, notoriously a wretched hive of scum and villainy (and sarcasm), had plenty of in-jokey commentary. “Commander, tear this trailer apart until you’ve found those clues and bring me those theories, I want them alive!” wrote a redditor called blood_souls. The /r/starwars subreddit was humming with activity, some of it related to the new trailer, some of it related to Star Wars Celebration, all of it devoted to The Force Awakens.
The trailer premiered on YouTube at 2 pm EST and by 5:30 had been retweeted from the official Star Wars account some 37,000 times. The YouTube video counter hadn’t caught up with views as of this writing, but the video had gotten the thumbs-up button 105,000 times and the Facebook video of the trailer had logged some 3.6m views and 97,000 likes (Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook vice president Tom Stocky were the first two). By press time Google had indexed more than 1,200 articles on the trailer. At the end of the footage, fans were redirected to a countdown page for a different Star Wars product: the marketing campaign for EA’s upcoming video game Star Wars Battlefront, the trailer for which is set to launch at the convention at 10 am California time tomorrow.
This piece was amended on 16 April 2015; the planet is called Jakku.
Get your first look at Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the new 88-second teaser. Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, opens in theaters December 18,
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.
The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, and John Williams returns as the composer.
Best prize ever! J.J. Abrams is offering a member of the public a part in STAR WARS VII, all in the name of charity. http://yhoo.it/1lEzSlQ
We’re excited to share this special announcement from J.J. Abrams: You could be in Star Wars: Episode VII and support a great cause. Enter here: http://bit.ly/BeInStarWarsEpVII#ForceForChange
See Official Rules for details.
Thank you to Disney for committing $1 million to support the launch of Star Wars: Force for Change, which will benefit UNICEF. No purchase, payment, or contribution necessary to enter or win. See rules for more information.
Star Wars Day is an unofficial holiday in May created by fans to honor the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. Observance of the holiday spread quickly due to Internet, social media, and grassroots celebrations. May 4 is considered a holiday by Star Wars fans to celebrate the franchise's films series, books and culture.[2] The date was chosen as "May the 4th" due to its sounding similar to the series' phrase "May the Force be with you" in which fans commonly say "May the fourth be with you".
The reference was first used on May 4, 1979, the day Margaret Thatcher took office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Thatcher's political party, the Conservatives, placed a congratulatory advertisement in The London Evening News that stated "May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations."[3] This reading of the line has also been recorded in the UK Parliament's Hansard.[4]
In 2011, the first organized celebration of Star Wars Day took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Toronto Underground Cinema. Produced by Sean Ward and Alice Quinn, festivities included an Original Trilogy Trivia Game Show; a costume contest with celebrity judges; and the web's best tribute films, mash-ups, parodies, and remixes on the big screen. The second annual edition took place on Friday, May 4, 2012.[5]
Fans (even government officials[6]) have celebrated Star Wars in a variety of ways in social media and on television.
Since 2013, Disney Parks have celebrated the holiday with several Star Wars events and festivities.[7][8][9]The Walt Disney Company had purchased Lucasfilm including the rights to Star Wars in late 2012.[10]
Minor League baseball teams such as the Toledo Mud Hens[11] and the Durham Bulls[12] have worn special uniforms as part of "Star Wars Day" promotions.
Star Wars Day became so popular that the following day was jokingly called “Revenge of the Fifth,” a play on the “Star Wars” movie title “Revenge of the Sith.” On this day, fans let their “evil sides” come out by celebrating the Sith Lords and villains from the Star Wars series. [13]
You might be surprised by how many popular movie quotes you're remembering just a bit wrong.
'The Wizard of Oz'
Though most people say 'Looks like we're not in Kansas anymore,' or 'Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore,' those quotes aren't quite right.
Dorothy actually says 'Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.'
'The Silence of the Lambs'
If you've always thought Hannibal Lecter greets Clarice by saying 'Hello, Clarice,' we've got news for you. It's actually 'Good evening, Clarice.' How polite!
'Field of Dreams'
That whispering voice? It's not quietly murmuring 'If you build it, they will come.' The correct quote is 'If you build it, he will come.'
'Wall Street'
Though Gordon Gekko definitely thinks greed is good, his quote is actually 'Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.'
'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'
The Queen says 'Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?' Most people think it's 'Mirror, mirror on the wall' ... and most people are incorrect.
'The Empire Strikes Back'
This might blow your mind, but when Vader reveals his true identity to Luke, he does not say 'Luke, I am your father.' He actually says 'No, I am your father.'
How many of these quotes have you been saying wrong? Don't worry, we won't judge.
Lucasfilm and Disney have given “Star Wars” fans official insight into where they plan to take the sci-fi saga.
While George Lucas had built a world around “Star Wars” through movies, TV shows, comicbooks, novels, videogames and other forms of entertainment, storylines were developed by separate teams creating what’s been called an “Expanded Universe” that veered away from what was seen onscreen by audiences.
As a result of the plethora of “Star Wars”-related characters, creatures, spaceships and worlds created for those properties, Lucasfilm has formed a new story group to oversee all “Stars Wars” creative development, according to Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, that will connect all aspects of storytelling moving forward.
Onscreen, the first new canonical material to appear will be the animated series “Star Wars Rebels” (see a clip presented at WonderCon below), followed by the J.J. Abrams-directed “Star Wars: Episode VII,” set for release on Dec. 18, 2015.
In print, the first new books to come from the group include novels from Del Rey Books, such as the John Jackson Miller-penned “Star Wars: A New Dawn,” set before the events of “Star Wars Rebels” and offering insight into the backstories of key characters Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla, with input directly from executive producers Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg and Greg Weisman.
“A New Dawn” will be published in hardcover and as an e-book on Sept. 2, followed by “Star Wars: Tarkin,” by James Luceno, on Nov. 4; “Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi,” in January, by author Kevin Hearne; and “Star Wars: Lords of the Sith,” by Paul Kemp, in March.
Lucas may have enabled other people to play in the world of the “Star Wars” Expanded Universe, but “he set the films he created as the canon,” Lucasfilm posted on the StarWars.com site Friday. “This includes the six ‘Star Wars’ episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars.’ These stories are the immovable objects of ‘Star Wars’ history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align.”
“We have an unprecedented slate of new ‘Star Wars’ entertainment on the horizon,” Kennedy said in a statement. “We’re set to bring ‘Star Wars’ back to the bigscreen, and continue the adventure through games, books, comics, and new formats that are just emerging. This future of interconnected storytelling will allow fans to explore this galaxy in deeper ways than ever before.”
That includes the launch of a new “Star Wars: Legends” banner that will keep tales from the Expanded Universe in print.
Lucasfilm added that elements from the Expanded Universe, like the Inquisitor, the Imperial Security Bureau and Sienar Fleet Systems created in role-playing games of the 1980s, are story elements in “Star Wars Rebels.”