Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Johnsonverse)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (also known as Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens) is a 2015 American epic space opera film co-written and directed by Tim Johnson. The sequel to Return of the Jedi (1983), it is the seventh film in the "Skywalker Saga". Set thirty years after Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens follows Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron in their fight in the New Republic, led by Supreme Chancellor Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and other veterans of the Rebel Alliance, against Kylo Ren and the First Order, a successor to the Galactic Empire. The ensemble cast includes Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Issac, Christian Bale, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Gwendoline Christie, Domhnall Gleason, Jimmy Vee, Anthony Daniels, and Peter Mayhew.
The film was announced after The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012. The Force Awakens was produced by Johnson's sister Chloe and Lucasfilm president Dave Filoni, and written by Johnson, Star Wars creator George Lucas, Jon Favreau, and Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of the original trilogy films The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi. John Williams, composer for the previous episodic films, returned to compose the score, while 20th Century Fox (which distributed all the episodic Star Wars films) returned as the film's distributor. Principal photography began in April 2014 on a $259–306 million budget and concluded the following November. Filming took place on sets at Pinewood Studios in England, and on location mainly in Abu Dhabi, Iceland, and Ireland.
The Force Awakens premiered in Los Angeles on December 14, 2015, and was released in the United States on December 18. It was positively received by critics for its screenplay, direction, lead performances, musical score, special effects, and emotional weight. The film grossed $2 billion worldwide, breaking various box office records and becoming the highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada, the highest-grossing film of 2015, and the third-highest-grossing film at the time of its release. It went into the 88th Academy Awards season with five nominations, and received numerous accolades. The Last Jedi (2017) and Duel of the Fates (2019) followed The Force Awakens, rounding out the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
==Plot==
The film opens with a battle between the First Order and the Pentastar Alignment, in which Kylo Ren (Christian Bale) boards the Reaper, confronts and kills Grand Moff Ardus Kaine, and has a brief lightsaber duel with an unnamed Dark Jedi serving under Kaine, resulting in the latter's death. The Reaper is then destroyed by the Eclipse's superlaser.
==Cast==
* Daisy Ridley as Rey Solana: A Force-sensitive scavenger who wants to follow in the footsteps of her hero Luke Skywalker and join the New Republic
** Cailey Fleming as young Rey
* John Boyega as Finn Whitsun: A New Republic spy who poses as a stormtrooper to discover secrets about the FIrst Order and befriends Rey after crash-landing on Jakku
* Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron: A high-ranking X-wing fighter pilot of the New Republic
* Christian Bale as Jaden Korr / Kylo Ren: A leader of the Knights of Ren and the commander of the First Order who was once a student of Luke's Jedi Academy before falling to the dark side
* Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker: Founder and Grand Master of the New Jedi Order
* Harrison Ford as Han Solo: A founding member of the New Republic and captain of the Millennium Falcon
* Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa: Supreme Chancellor of the New Republic
* Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian: Another founding member of the New Republic and an old friend of Han Solo
* Adam Driver as Ben Skywalker: A Jedi Knight and the son of Luke Skywalker
* Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma: The commander of the First Order's legions of stormtroopers
* Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata: A centuries-old and perceptive alien who owns a castle on the peaceful forest planet Takodana
* Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke: The enigmatic leader of the First Order
* Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux: The commander of the Capitol
* Jimmy Vee as R2-D2: An astromech droid under the service of Luke Skywalker and C-3PO's companion
* Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: A humanoid protocol droid under the service of Luke Skywalker and R2-D2's companion
* Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca: Han's loyal Wookiee friend and co-pilot
** Joonas Suotamo and Ian Whyte served as body doubles for Mayhew as he suffered from health problems
Tim Rose and Mike Quinn reprise their respective roles as Admiral Ackbar and Nien Nunb from Return of the Jedi, with Erik Bauersfeld and Kipsang Rotich returning their respective voices. Michael Stevens also reprises his role as Airen Cracken from the film. Kenny Baker, originally announced as part of the cast, was credited as "consultant" for R2-D2, with Jimmy Vee performing some of the work for R2-D2. Ewan McGregor and Frank Oz have vocal cameos as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda in Rey's vision sequence, respectively, while archival audio of Alec Guinness as Kenobi is also used in the same scene. Tom Hardy appears as Kyle Katarn, Rey's assigned Jedi Master. Burt Reynolds appears as Crispin Hoedaack, Finn's assigned Master, and Al Pacino appears as Poe's Jedi Master, Vantos Coll.
Dave Chapman and Brian Herring served as puppeteers for BB-8, with Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz credited as "Vocal Consultants". Ken Leung appears as Statura, an admiral in the New Republic. Simon Pegg appears as Unkar Plutt, the Junk parts dealer on Jakku. Greg Grunberg plays Temmin "Snap" Wexley, an X-wing pilot. Kiran Shah plays Teedo, a scavenger on Jakku who rides a semi-mechanical Luggabeast. Jessica Henwick appears as Jess "Testor" Pava or Jess Testor, an X-wing pilot. Brian Vernel appears as Bala-Tik, the leader of the Guavian Death Gang. Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais appear as Tasu Leech and Razoo Qin-Fee, members of the Kanjiklub Gang, a criminal organization. Warwick Davis appears as Wollivan, a tavern-dweller in Maz Kanata's castle. Anna Brewster appears as Bazine Netal, a First Order spy, also at Maz Kanata's castle. Hannah John-Kamen appears as a First Order officer. Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Kate Fleetwood play First Order Petty Officers, Thanisson and Unamo, respectively. Billie Lourd, daughter of Carrie Fisher, appears as Connix, a lieutenant in the New Republic. Members of the New Republic include Emun Elliott as Brance and Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Korr Sella while Harriet Walter appears as Kalonia, the doctor who tends to Chewbacca. Mark Stanley appears as a Knight of Ren. Sebastian Armesto portrays Lieutenant Mitaka and Pip Torrens portrays Colonel Kaplan, both serving the First Order. Paul McGann appears as the Grand Moff Ardus Kaine. Alden Ehrenreich, Emma Roberts and Logan Huffman portray Han and Leia's children Jacen, Jaina and Anakin Solo, respectively. Dianna Agron portrays Nellith, Rey's sister and a member of the Jedi Aces who is named after Luke's sister in the original draft for The Empire Strikes Back.
Daniel Craig, Favreau, and Nigel Godrich cameo as stormtroopers. Dialect coach Andrew Jack portrays New Republic Major Caluan Ematt. Additionally, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Christina Chong, Miltos Yerolemou, Amybeth Hargreaves, Leanne Best, Judah Friedlander, and Kevin Smith appear in minor roles. Riot control stormtrooper FN-2199, who calls Finn a traitor during the battle on Takodana (and gained the fan nickname "TR-8R"), was portrayed by stunt performer Liang Yang and voiced by sound editor David Acord.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
=== Pre-production ===
=== Casting ===
=== Filming ===
=== Post-production ===
=== Music ===
== Marketing ==
=== Promotion ===
=== Tie-in literature and merchandise ===
=== Video games ===
A tie-in video game was released on December 10, 2015. Select characters, scenes and/or locations from the film also became part of other Star Wars video games: Characters from the film were added to an update to the mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, available for iOS and Android and released by Electronic Arts; free downloadable content for LucasArts' Star Wars Battlefront reboot allowed players to battle on the planet Jakku; an update to the mobile game Star Wars Commander, released by Disney Mobile for iOS, Android and the Windows Store, allowed players to battle on the planet Takodana during the Galactic Civil War era; and a condensed version of the film's plot becomes an add-on "playset" in the toys-to-life game Disney Infinity 3.0, with Finn, Rey, Poe Dameron, and Kylo Ren as playable characters. The film also got a full Lego video game adaptation, titled Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was released by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows, Mandatum, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on June 28, 2016.
== Release ==
=== Theatrical ===
=== Home media ===
=== Broadcast syndication ===
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
==== Commercial analysis ====
==== United States and Canada ====
==== Other territories ====
=== Critical response ===
==== From Star Wars filmmakers ====
=== Accolades ===
== Sequels ==
Category:Johnsonverse