By Derek Munyon
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
December 18 sees the first of a new Star Wars trilogy and the first film in 10 years. “The Force Awakens” is one of the most anticipated films in years and has fans arguably more excited than “The Phantom Menace” back in 1999. Many fans are hoping for these new sequels to be an improvement on the abysmal prequels, despite initial uproar against Lucasfilm’s purchase by Disney.
Helming “The Force Awakens” is director J.J. Abrams. Abrams is well known for his bevy of sci-fi films and shows including the TV series’ “Alias,” “Lost,” and “Fringe” and films like “Cloverfield” and new Star Trek series and the newer Mission Impossible movies. Abrams is notoriously secretive about the films and series’ that he makes and generally lets as few spoilers out as possible, but here’s what we know right now:
The new film is being written by Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Re-turn of the Jedi,” and the first Indiana Jones movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” This is a good sign that the new film will be well written and faithful to the story. It’s also bringing back the original trilogy’s stars, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill for the first time in 30 years.
Part of the reason fans are so excited for these films is the return to their favorite galaxy far, far away. There isn’t an entirely new cast to get used to, they’re reintroducing the characters that we already know and love.
These classic characters will be passing the torch onto a new generation. Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver and Oscar Issac will be taking over as the new leads. “Game of Thrones” star Gwendoline Christie and Domhnall Gleeson, from the Harry Potter series, will also be joining the cast. Return for the seventh time are also the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.
Not a lot has been released about the plot. We know that the Empire hadn’t totally fallen in the last 30 years, instead having reformed as the First Order and they’re still fighting the Rebels, now called the Resistance. Finn (Boyega) is a First Order stormtrooper who realizes he is tied to the Force and leaves his post. He finds Rey (Ridley) on a desert planet Jakku and the story goes on from there.
There has been plenty of rumors floating around about the film including the idea that Rey and the enemy Kylo Ren (Driver) are siblings and the children of Han Solo (Ford) and Princess, now General, Leia (Fisher). There are also some more absurd theories including that Luke (Hamill) is actually Kylo Ren and the Jar Jar Binks is re-turning as a Sith lord.
Even though we don’t have all the facts yet, some of you will surely be finding out Friday. Just don’t spoil it for people who don’t want to know!
