2015: The Year of Star Wars

Denisa Caldova

Correspondent (Film)

 

It  all started in 1977, when the first Episode of the Star Wars saga was released. The movie, directed by George Lucas, called Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope, earned $1,554,475 only during the domestic opening weekend. Worldwide, it earned $797,900,000. Episodes V and VI followed in 1980 and 1983 (retrospectively), being similarly successful as the first movie.

Initially, it seemed that this movie franchise had ended after the third movie. However, 16 years after the release of Episode VI, Lucas introduced Episode I. This movie’s plot preceded the one of the previous episodes. As such, the audience were able to find out the story of Anakin Skywalker before he became Darth Vader. In spite of the 16 year long gap, the movie proved to be very successful, earning enormous amount of money, more specifically $1,007,044,677 on worldwide sales. It should not come as a surprise that Episodes II, III and The Clone Wars followed in 2002, 2005 and 2008 (retrospectively).

It has been “only” five years since the latest Star Wars movie and the world has just found out that there will be another Star Wars Episode in 2015, the Episode VII. Will it be as good as the previous Episodes?

This is what is known so far. The director of the newest Episode is not George Lucas, even though he is still an essential part of the production. His place was taken by J.J. Abraham who will be responsible for the whole production process. This should be interesting, since Abraham previously proved to be able to “reboot” an original story (new version of Star Trek with Chris Pine being an example of that). Not only is everyone excited about the movie as a whole, but it remains to be seen who is going to be cast in this story. For now the information is that the cast from the Episodes IV, V and VI should return. This means, that the fans of this trilogy will, hopefully, be able to see Harisson Ford (Han Solo), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leila Solo) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO).

It has also been announced that open casting is being held. The franchise producers are searching for a girl, Rachel, aged 17- 18 who is not only beautiful, but also athletic. The agency in charge of the casting describes the character on their Twitter account as follows:

“Was quiet young when she lost her parents, with no other family. She was forced to make her way in a tough, dangerous town. Now 17 she has become street smart and strong. She is able to take care of herself using humour and guts to get by. Always a survivor, never a victim.”

The same characteristics go for a male character, Thomas, who should ideally be 19- 23 years old. According to the same Twitter account, he:

“has grown up without a father’s influence. Without the model of being a man, he does not have the strongest sense of himself. Despite this, he is smart, capable and shows courage when it is needed.”

The latest adaptations of the Star Wars featured stars such as Natalie Portman (Padmé/Queen Amidala), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) or Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan). Should the audience expect other big names in the upcoming movie, or are we going to see new, rising stars?

 

Image Courtesy: User:KAMiKAZOW.| Wiki Commons