Today Lucasfilm very casually announced the title of the highly anticipated beginning of the next Star Wars trilogy; Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The film, which just wrapped principle photography and is slated for a December 18th, 2015 release, has apparently dropped the numeration which was made popular by the Special Edition and Prequel trilogies. This hearkens back to the Original Trilogy which has been director JJ Abrams’ main focus in the creation of this next film.
A New Hope -> The Phantom Menace -> The Force Awakens
The Empire Strikes Back -> Attack of the Clones -> ?
Return of the Jedi -> Revenge of the Sith -> ?
Falling inline with the previous first chapters of each trilogy this title is a bit vague and carries the same kind of mystery of the first two films. Who is the new hope? What is the phantom menace? How does the Force awake?
With rumors of an upcoming one-minute trailer this non-announcement is very much needed as LFL and Abrams’ Bad Robot have been very scarce with their official announcements and promotion of Episode VII.
Now we know Hasbro has been in the design process for some time regarding action figures and toys from this winter blockbuster but will they use the working title of “Episode VII” or the newly christened “The Force Awakens”.
Time and Toy Fair will tell but until then, let all the fun and speculation begin!
Until next time,