Getting Ready For Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Ryan
How To Get Ready For Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Update
Check out pictures from the World Premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Los Angeles. Disney set up a quarter-mile-long tent along Hollywood Boulevard that connected the three movie theaters used for the premiere, the Dolby Theatre, the TCK Chinese Theatre asdn the El Captain Theater.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens may not be the biggest movie of 2015 in terms of overall box office receipts, but that will only be because it will only be in theaters for 15 days of 2015. Pre-sales of tickets for showings broke records even back in October. Make no mistake, Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be huge.
So how can you get ready for the official release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in movie theaters across the country on December 18, 2015? Check out our guide below.
How Do All Of The Star Wars Films Fit Together?
The Force Awakens is technically the seventh film in the Star Wars franchise, but it’s a bit tricky to follow. George Lucas created the original Star Wars in 1977. It was later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope. Two other films in the franchise were released in the early 1980s, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983. These first three films were the original trilogy, but are now really episodes 3-6 in the franchise.
The Star Wars films released between 1999 and 2005 were Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
How Do I Get Caught Up On The Star Wars Universe?
Unfortunately, Star Wars is one of those franchises that is under lock and key. If you can find someone you know that happens to have all of the films, borrow them and watch them old school, like in a dvd player.
Are you looking to stream the first six movies? You’l have to pay up. Disney owns the rights to five of the six movies. (read below to find out why). They have an exclusive deal with Starz on the Star Wars movies. That deal ends when the clock strikes midnight on December 31, 2015, making it possible they may come to Netflix or somewhere else after that. Too late to let you watch them anywhere else before the release of The Force Awakens, however.
They first six films are available on Amazon, but not through the Amazon Prime streaming service. The digital copies of the Star Wars movies are $19.99 each or you can by Star Wars: The Digital Movie Collection for $89.99.
Looking for the cheapest way possible to watch all six Star Wars films? Buy the original Star Wars Trilogy on VHS tape for $1.17. Find an old VCR at Goodwill. Then buy Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy for $23.80 on Amazon.
Don’t have time to watch six Star Wars movies totaling around 13 hours anyways? Check out this amazing video on YouTube that will get you caught up in three minutes.
Who Is George Lucas, The Man Behind Star Wars?
If the United State Air Force hadn’t turned down a young George Lucas in 1967 for having too many speeding tickets, the world may have never seen Star Wars. Lucas went back to the University of Southern California after that and studied film production, where he met Francis Ford Coppola. The pair would form a studio and produce THX 1138 starring Robert Duvall, based on a short film Lucas had made while at USC.
THX 1138 was not a financial success at the box office, earning an estimated $2.4 million. That project spurred Lucas to create his own company, Lucasfilm, Ltd, whose first film was American Graffiti.
Featuring relative unknowns like Harrison Ford, Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Candy Clark and Mackenzie Phillips, American Graffiti would make $115 million at the box office. The film would win a Golden Globe, be nominated for seven Oscars and give George Lucas enough clout in Hollywood to bring his idea for Star Wars to the big screen. That’s what happens when you make a movie for $780,000 and its return is that high.
George Lucas spent $11 million making the original Star Wars. It’s current domestic lifetime gross, according to Box Office Mojo is $461 million. When it was released in 1977, a New York Times review called it “the most elaborate, most expensive, most beautiful movie serial ever made”
Lucas would go on to create a special effects company and a sound studio to produce two Star Wars sequels and the Indiana Jones franchise. He would combine these companies into his Lucasfilm empire. Pixar was originally the Lucasfilm Computer Division before being sold to Steve Jobs in 1985.
Where Is George Lucas And Why Is Disney Involved?
While I talked about the father of Star Wars, George Lucas, in the last section, you may notice that is name is no where to be found on Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Force Awakens. In October of 2012, the Walt Disney Company made a blockbuster deal for Lucasfilm. The company dropped $4 billion for Lucasfilm, but kept the company largely the same.
At the time of the deal, Lucas had created treatments for the next three films in the franchise and was set to work on the films with Disney. In the time between the deal and when filming began, however, Disney had a change of heart. Their decision to “make something for the fans” led George Lucas to walk away from the universe he created.
What Should We Expect From Star Wars: The Force Awakens?
The entire plot of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a mystery. Bits and pieces of the story have been released since Disney released the first teaser trailer in November of last year.
Here’s what we know about Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
New characters Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron appear to be our heroes. Rey is played by Daisy Ridley and is a scavenger from the planet Jakku who lives in a ship graveyard. John Boyega’s Finn is thought to be a First Order soldier that doesn’t really want to be a part of the First Order anymore. Oscar Issac’s Poe Dameron is an X-wing pilot who has some sort of connection to Finn. That’s really all we know about him, other than the fact that he has a droid sidekick. BB-8 is an astromech droid with a domed head like R2-D2 and fits in the droid socket of Poe’s X-wing fighter.
Adam Driver plays the role of Kylo Ren. Ren is obsessed with Darth Vader and committed to following in his footsteps. That makes him the villain of the film.
What characters return from the Episodes III – VI? Harrison Ford is back as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher is back as Princess Leia, Peter Mayhew is back in the Chewbacca suit and C-3PO is also back. Mark Hamill and his Luke Skywalker character are credited in the film, but mysteriously absent from any of the trailers or tv spots released thus far. Theories about why this is abound. Is it because Luke Skywalker is now evil? J.J. Abrams will only say that he doesn’t want to reveal something that will ruin the movie for someone.
The Force Awakens takes place 30 years after Return of the Jedi. The events that transpired during the original trilogy have apparently been forgotten considering the early clip of Han Solo saying “It’s all true — all of it”. Rey, Finn and Poe are then pulled into a battle of some sort.
All in all, we don’t really know that much about the plot of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Check out this collection of the trailers and tv spots released thus far.
Also, you’ll be happy to know that you can leave the movie theater right when the movie ends. J.J. Abrams confirmed that there aren’t any special scenes during or after the credits for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Get The Star Wars: The Force Awakens Gear
Disney has signed put together the largest merchandising campaign ever to promote The Force Awakens. Here are some of the special Star Wars items available.
HP Special Edition Notebook – HP is offering this special edition Star Wars notebook computer starting at $699. The company touts its “Galactic Empire-inspired design, commanding Intel Core processor and extensive collection of rare Star Wars content.”
Sphero BB-8 App-Enabled Droid – Amazon is offering this awesome toy based on the newest droid in the Star Wars galaxy. The BB-8 droid can be guided with your smart phone or tablet and also recognizes and reacts to your voice. If you have $149.95 to spend, this would be a pretty cool thing to spend it on. Looking for something a little fancier? A gold and diamond BB-8 replica created by Kay Jewelers and valued at $135,000 will be going up for auction with the proceeds benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
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Ryan
Ryan is a weird dude. He doesn't cook, yet owns a plethora of kitchen gadgets. He rationalized buying a SodaStream while unemployed. He counts Step Up 2: The Streets as one of his favorite movies along with Footloose, Rent, Grease and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. He loves Mizzou but only wants them in the SEC so he can tailgate in Nashville. He owns a ShakeWeight and AbLounger, but still loves him some John Donut and Billie's Fine Foods. You can get more of Ryan at iLoveSoulard.com or just check the stool on the far end of the bar at iTap in Soulard.
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