Star Wars: Episode VII Will Be Titled ...

'The Force Awakens,' Disney announces
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 6, 2014 12:44 PM CST
Star Wars Episode VII Will Be Titled...
Stormtroopers take over the stage during a private Disney event at the Licensing Expo last year at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.   (Photo by Andrew Estey/Invision for DisneyConsumer Products/AP Images)

The next Star Wars movie has an official title. Episode VII of the classic franchise will be titled Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Disney announced today on Facebook. The post also revealed that principal photography is now complete. The movie opens Dec. 18 of next year, USA Today reports, and very few other details are officially known other than the fact that it reportedly takes place three decades after Return of the Jedi. The cast was announced earlier this year, and in addition to old favorites (Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew), the movie will star Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Max von Sydow, and Lupita Nyong'o, plus a number of young, little-known actors.

The original movies, of course, also featured a trio of relative unknowns, and USA Today speculates on the meaning of the title: "The fact that [the force is] 'awakening' could refer to the new characters the film will introduce." Entertainment Weekly notes that the title raises a question: "Has the Force been … slumbering? ... Maybe this energy that binds the galaxy together has only been visible to a select few, while the denizens of the galaxy put their faith in the science and technology of interstellar travel?" OK, so that may not tell us much, but at least one important person has high hopes for the new film: Daniels, perhaps better known as C-3PO, tweeted Sunday: "'No movie sequel is better than The Empire Strikes Back.' You might eat those words for Xmas dinner in 2015. Joy & Indigestion to the world!" (More Star Wars stories.)

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