star wars

If there were any lingering doubts about the popularity of Star Wars in the year 2015, Star Wars Celebration killed them. Ruthlessly. When the the live-streamed panel for Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiered the second trailer for J.J. Abrams’ wildly anticipated sequel, you could feel the internet quiver and shake underneath the weight of the hype. It was a staggering event that made the next few geek-friendly trailers released in the following days feel like small potatoes in comparison. And yes, this hyperbole is backed up by raw numbers: the second trailer for The Force Awakens shattered the record for most trailer views in 24 hours.

Ultimate Star Wars fans, take notice. Pretty soon you’ll be able to board a special Star Wars plane painted to look like R2-D2, perfect for taking flight — though not to a galaxy far, far away, unfortunately. You’ll need to talk to NASA about that. All Nippon Airways is launching the very special plane this fall in honor of the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In case you weren’t aware, Star Wars is kind of a big deal again. It’s pretty much all we talked about on the internet today.

The brand new Star Wars: Episode 7 trailer premiered this morning at Star Wars Celebration, as J.J. Abrams and the film’s cast showed off the footage to a packed audience of hardcore Star Wars fans. But, you don't have to be in Anaheim to get a new look at The Force Awakens: we've got the trailer for you right here, right now!

When Disney bought George Lucas’ company, they got more than the buildings, computers, droids, and the ‘Star Wars’ intellectual property. They also got George Lucas’ unused ideas for future ‘Star Wars’ movies. Though Lucas had insisted for years that ‘Revenge of the Sith’ was his final ‘Star Wars’ film, that didn’t stop him from brainstorming a few other potential stories that could be set after the events of ‘Return of the Jedi’ (and, I assume, mostly involve Jar-Jar Binks wandering the universe and getting into “hilarious” misadventures).

With all of his projects, J.J. Abrams has shown extraordinary good taste in casting and ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ is no different. Forget about the old-timers returning to the saga and think about John Boyega, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie and the other terrific thespians being given the biggest spotlight of their careers. Abrams, more than most working filmmakers, knows how to showcase an actor or actress in a way that makes us wonder why they weren’t movie stars before he cast them. Anyway, this is just a longwinded way of getting around to saying that Abrams’ impeccable taste is once again on display since a trio of actors from ‘The Raid’ and ‘The Raid 2’ are apparently in ‘The Force Awakens.’

The 'Star Wars: Episode 7' trailer may only be 88 seconds long, but you're going to spend the rest of your day watching this over and over again.

Yes, it’s easy to decry the permeation of film marketing and our obsession with trailers and posters and previews, but let’s just be honest with ourselves here: The ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ trailer is going to an event that rivals the release of most movies. Think back to the good ‘ol days of 1998 (”A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...”) and remember how fans would buy tickets to ‘A Bug’s Life’ and ‘The Siege’ just to watch the teaser trailer for ‘Star Wars: Episode I.’ If you’re one of those people and want to replicate that experience, you’d better pre-order your ticket for ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ pretty soon.

Let's be real: everyone wants to be in the new 'Star Wars' movies (well, except for Jason Statham), and that includes Marvel star Mark Ruffalo, who famously plays The Hulk/Bruce Banner in 'The Avengers.' While the cast for 'Star Wars: Episode 7' is already filled up, there's still hope for the actor to join 'Star Wars: Episode 8,' and he's already e-mailed his old buddy Rian Johnson to ask for a part ... any part.

'Star Wars: Episode 7' has finally announced its cast after a long process that has spanned months of speculation and rumors. The stars of the original trilogy - Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker - have finally been confirmed, and they'll be joined by newcomers to the franchise Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Max von Sydow, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver

If we feel a little mixed about 'Star Wars: Episode 7' bringing back Harrison Ford's Han Solo, or Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia, it's only because seeing the passage of time on the actors might be distracting. But the original 'Star Wars' trilogy's ships and technology are ageless, so it's exciting the latest rumor is that the Millennium Falcon will be a part of the new films.