Opening day for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is still far, far away, but the first official trailer for the highly anticipated new film has finally arrived. The clip premiered at a small number of theaters across the country on Friday, and now it has made its way online.
There has been an awakening, intones a deep, raspy voice. Have you felt it? Then what follows is 88 seconds of new droids, new characters, a row of stormtroopers and a quick shot of the Millennium Falcon zooming past the screen. The dark side, says the voiceover, as a shadowy figure flips on a light saber. And the light.
Director J.J. Abrams and his cast and crew have been working on The Force Awakens a.k.a. Episode VII throughout the summer at Pinewood Studios in London, as well as in Abu Dhabi. Little is known about the film other than that it is set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, and it will feature members of the original trilogyscast reprisingtheir roles, including Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker. The old guard will be joined by newcomersAdam Driver, Lupita Nyongo, Max von Sydow, Andy Serkis, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. The Force Awakens was written by Abrams and Lucasfilm veteran Lawrence Kasdan, who replaced original screenwriter Michael Arndt.
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Otherwise, Abrams has kept a tight lid on the production, though over the summer he did offer a glimpse atthe redesigned X-Wingstarfighter as part of a promo video for the Force for Change charity campaign. Director/Star Wars super fan, Kevin Smith, was, however, able to divulgea few tantalizing details about the film but obviously no spoilers after visiting the London set.
It was tactile; it wasnt a series of fucking green and blue screens in which later on digital characters would be added, Smith gushed, adding: I saw uniforms; I saw artillery that I havent seen since I was a kid. I saw them shooting an actual sequence in a set that is real I walked across the set; there were explosions, and it looked like a shot right out of a fucking Star Wars movie.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is scheduled to open in theaters on December 18th, 2015.