2 - STAR WARS: EPISODE VII - THE FORCE AWAKENS PREVIEW - DECEMBER 16, 2015
STAR WARS © & TM 2015 LUCASFILM LTD.
The Force Awakens Preview
Return of the franchise
A decade after ‘Revenge of Sith’ closed the book on the prequel trilogy, a new film thrusts the ‘Star
Wars’ saga decades into the future with new heroes, new villains and some of fans’ favorite old friends
BY TIMOTHY R. SCHULTE
CTW FEATURES
W
e could recap how we got
here – six monumental
films; countless multimedia
spinoffs, including books, video games
and television series, just to name a
few; clothing, costumes, and a culture
unto itself; put simply, the most iconic
entertainment franchise of all time –
but we’ll just get right to it: On Dec.
18, “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force
Awakens” hits theaters.
And. People. Are. Hyped.
Tickets for the movie went on sale
Oct. 19, nearly two months before its
release, following the debut of the
film’s full-length trailer during “Mon-
day Night Football” on ESPN – The
Walt Disney Co. owns both ESPN and
the “Star Wars” franchise – and imme-
diately set presale records.
Ticket site Fandango said it sold
eight times as many first-day tickets as
2012’s “The Hunger Games,” the previ-
ous record holder, including more
than $6.5 million in IMAX sales, also a
record.
“This is an extraordinary time for
the industry, which experienced
unprecedented ticketing demand last
night for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awak-
ens,’” Fandango said the following day
in a statement. “The enthusiasm for
this year’s most anticipated movie is
out of this world and we expect it to
continue all the way to its debut on
Dec. 18.”
Whether you’re a longtime fan of
the franchise or a newcomer to the
“Star Wars” universe, here’s everything
you need to know to get ready for the
new film.
THE BACKGROUND
The Force awakened in October
2012 when “Star Wars” creator George
Lucas sold Lucasfilm Ltd. – including,
of course, the entirety of “Star Wars” –
to The Walt Disney Co., and Disney in
turn announced three new “Star Wars”
films. Referred to as the “sequel trilo-
gy,” the new films start with this year’s
“The Force Awakens,” followed by cur-
rently untitled Episodes VIII and IX in
2017 and 2019, respectively.
J.J. Abrams, who rebooted the “Star
Trek” film franchise to enormous box
office success, was tapped to direct
and co-write the film. Lawrence Kas-
dan, who co-wrote “The Empire
Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,”