The Force Awakens what?
With the official announcement that J.J. Abrams has wrapped principal photography on his Star Wars sequel comes the official title: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. And with that, the galaxy exploded into a furious debate about whether the subtitle of a movie we haven’t yet seen any footage from is "awesome" or "lame."
Actually, is Episode VII even part of that title? It isn’t in the announcement, where it simply says, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens has completed principal photography." I wonder if they are dropping the use of Episode VII… even though that has been part of the titles since The Empire Strikes Back (and was prominent in the prequels, of course).
The Force, obviously, is not a new concept to the Star Wars universe – though it is the driving natural aura that has swirled around all six previous Star Wars films. It was possible that Luke Skywalker’s actions in Return of the Jedi brought a balance to The Force. But it’s comforting to know that whatever threat is casting its shadow over the galaxies will still have a direct tie to the Jedi order, the Sith, and The Force, in general.
OK, so what’s next? J.J. Abrams shuts down production, and throws an epic wrap party. He hands out gifts to all who participated in the production, and he prepares to enter the editing bay, where post-production is expected to last months. But the main thing that fans are speculating over on the Facebook page that announced the movie’s title is, "When will we see footage, in the form of a teaser trailer?" I don’t think that a full trailer – with cut-together sequences – will be available any time soon. But seeing how much hay Marvel raised with the arrival of an Avengers: Age of Ultron clip, you can only imagine the folks at Disney and LucasFilms salivating at the thought of teasing Star Wars fans with the first The Force Awakens clip.
Some fans are guessing it will arrive before Christmas. Maybe on Dec. 18, marking one calendar year before the movie opens? If I had to put money down on it, I’d wager that we’ll see a Star Wars: The Force Awakens clip on Super Bowl Sunday. What do you think? And what do you think of the title? Weigh in below.
