While the rest of the galaxy has been fawning over the first glimpse of Star Wars: The Force Awakens for several days now, there is one prominent member of the franchise’s fraternity that still hasn’t watched the trailer for the upcoming seventh installment to the beloved series: George Lucas. That’s right, the man who created the entire Star Wars universe hasn’t even watched the teaser for The Force Awakens. And he actually has a legitimate reason why.
While attending Bloomberg Businessweek’s 85th anniversary, George Lucas was asked for his reaction to JJ Abrams’ trailer by Page Six. It was at this point that the American Graffiti writer and director revealed that he hadn’t found time to watch the 88-second teaser yet. And even if he had the time, he’d still wait to watch it on the big-screen anyway.
"I don’t know anything about it. I haven’t seen it yet … Because it’s not in the movie theater. I like going to the movies and watching the whole thing there. I plan to see it when it’s released."
It’s hard to discern from George Lucas’ comments whether he is waiting for the trailer to hit cinemas or if he actually wants to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens when it is released on December 18, 2015 without having seen a single frame of footage. If the 70-year-old actually just wanted to watch the mesmeric first trailer for The Force Awakens on the big-screen then he has already missed the opportunity. The clip was shown over Thanksgiving weekend in 30 North American theaters by AMC, Cinemark, Carmike Cinemas and Regal Entertainment. Pretty much everyone who has glimpsed the footage has come to the conclusion that the force is still strong with the franchise. In fact the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is already well on its way to being the most-watched preview of all time. Its popularity is so great that it has already amassed 72 million views in just one week. You can be reminded of its brilliance by watching it again below. It just gets better and better and better each time you do.
Either way there is something quite commendable about George Lucas’ old-school pursuit. Moviegoers from across the world have now become accustomed to watching trailers on their laptops after visiting the official website for the film on a daily basis for regular updates regarding its premiere. But even though it is admittedly much easier to keep informed about new films because of the world wide web, watching a trailer on your computer doesn’t come close to replicating the thrill of seeing a preview on the big-screen. It’s nice to hear that George Lucas is still trying to preserve this old-school approach to watching movies. Or maybe he just can’t bring himself to see JJ Abrams playing with his franchise. In fact when Page Six asked him if he was curious to see what JJ Abrams has done with the new film, George Lucas solemnly declared, "Not really." Ouch.
