It's a pretty good day to be a Star Wars fan. Star Wars Celebration is kicking into high gear over in London, and while we salivate over the new footage and poster for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, some new information about Star Wars: The Force Awakens has dropped. The movie responsible for revitalizing the popular franchise will be heading to the small screen for anyone who didn't already buy it to enjoy. The most successful film of 2015 will make its television debut this September, but not without a catch, unfortunately.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will debut exclusively on Starz on September 10. The film will air on all six Starz channels at 9 PM and again at 11:20 PM. If you aren't able to catch the showing on Saturday, then don't worry, because there will be numerous encore presentations throughout the day on the 11th. This is a pretty good score for Starz, who likely threw down a chunk of change to get the rights to air the seventh installment of the franchise. This premiere is exclusively for Starz subscribers, which stinks for any fans who don't have the service.
Luckily for any Star Wars fans who don't have Starz, but still want to watch the movie, there's a bit of wiggle room. Starz is a subscription service that costs $8.99 per month but you can sign up for a free seven-day trial. Just get the free trial on September 10th and remember to cancel it before the seven days are up. It's a real Han Solo type move. If you're not one for such skullduggery, then just buy the movie on iTunes or Blu-ray. There is a benefit to keeping Starz, though. For one it's cheaper than Netflix and it offers about 2,700 titles to watch. Plus, it has its own original series for you to watch, like Outlander, which is supposed to be quite good.
The other advantage of watching The Force Awakens on Starz is that it's currently the only streaming or service that can play the movie. Disney and Netflix may have signed a deal to allow the company to exclusively air Disney titles but that only includes ones released in 2016 and beyond. That means Netflix can't show The Force Awakens, something Starz is taken advantage of. However, that also makes it so that Starz won't be showing Rogue One or Episode VIII. Netflix will eventually be the go-to service for Star Wars films.
So if you still have Star Wars fever in September, then you might want to check out the debut of The Force Awakens on Starz. It's definitely an enjoyable film if a little overly familiar, so gather your friends or family to watch it when it airs on September 10. If you have Starz, it's a nice little treat. If you don't, then you'll just have to slum it like the rest of us and watch it online someplace or get it on Blu-ray/DVD.
