Latest news: Oscar Isaac talks more about Poe Dameron. Here's everything you need to know about Star Wars: The Force Awakens!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first big film adventure to a galaxy far, far away in 10 years, premieres on Dec. 18. And the news isn't going to slow down just a couple of months before the big release.
To make all the news easier on your eyes, we've compiled everything you need to know about this movie, from news, character lists, and setting to rumors and spoilers. It's all here in one place. We've moved things like story rumors, spoilers, production art, and our own speculations to page two in order to let the people who want to remain spoiler-free do so. They're there if you want 'em, but as very little of that stuff is official or confirmed, and ALL of it can be considered spoilers, you move on to page two at your own risk.
Here's the breakdown:
Page 1 - All Confirmed News & Details
Enjoy!
Latest News
Oscar Isaac on Poe Dameron
Talking to IGN, Oscar Isaac shared a few more details about his character, who he claims is "the best frickin pilot in the galaxy!" When asked to explain, he said, "That's just fact. The gauntlet's been thrown."
Isaac on what Poe brings to the film:
"[Joy] is where J.J. [Abrams] operates from. You know the whole thing is infused with such enthusiasm. Such joy. And I think that I definitely do get to inhabit a lot of that feeling. And I know it sounds weird, but the ecstasy of war, which is something that I read about. I read this book called, 'What it's Like to Go to War', which is literal. And this guy talked about that a lot - particularly with pilots. You know that feeling takes you to this weird, sacred space. It's this kind of high that happens. But yeah, I think that J.J. just infuses his enthusiasm and his passion for this story in every frame."
The character will also be doing a bit of bonding with BB-8, the new droid in the film. Isaac described how he got along with the little droid:
"Well, I mean you've seen BB-8! It's very hard not to bond with that little guy. I mean, it's amazing. It's an amazing design, too. I mean, just everybody that worked to make him come to life - or to make it come to life. Let's not give it a gender. It was just so cool to witness that. BB-8 definitely has its own modes of expression that are very unique."
On working with Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher:
"You need to give over to the relationship," the actor reflected. "I mean there is that moment when I first would walk on the set and just see what was there and see them in costume. Or visit set and see them. And those would be sort of pinch yourself moments. Like, 'Wow, how did I even end up here?' So that would be pretty surreal, but then it's like you almost need that extra bit of energy to compartmentalize and approach it like any other job. Even though in the back of your head you know this is not any other job. In order to function properly and do your job properly you kind of have to diminish the thing."
Scroll down for some more details on Poe Dameron and turn to page 2 for some potential spoilers on the character!
Star Wars Celebration Panel
Plenty of news came out of Star Wars Celebration's The Force Awakenspanel, in which director J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy shared some new details about the highly anticipated film, including character info, setting, and a brand new teaser (which you can find below).
For a full breakdown of the panel, check out our recap.
Trailers
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Teaser #2
There's a brand NEW trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Check it out right here:
Want to know more about this trailer? Check out our complete in-depth analysis!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Teaser
Does this really need any introduction?
This trailer offers a great first look into the new characters, as well as our first glimpse of the Millennium Falcon since Return of the Jedi! Boy, it's been a very long time. It looks like a lot of those rumors we were talking about are true, after all.
We learned a whole lot more from the trailer in our analysis.
Story
Very Few Details
Unsurprisingly, we know little to nothing about the story of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Nothing official, anyway (Story Rumors here). What we do know is that the new trilogy will see the old generation team up with a new generation of heroes to continue their fight against an oppressive force. Can we call the bad guys the Empire? We don't even know that after the Star Wars Celebration panel.
We do know that Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) are the three young heroes that will inherit the battles of their predecessors. And there's at least one villain (Kylo Ren), apparently strong in the dark side of the Force, standing in their way in this film. That Chrometrooper isn't a good guy, either.
Luke Skywalker's old lightsaber also plays some sort of role in the film.
Most importantly, the story still pits two factions against each other: an oppressive militaristic and tyrannical government against a small band of freedom fighters.
Setting
There's only one confirmed location in the film: a desert junkyard planet called Jakku. We originally thought it was Tatooine, but J.J. Abrams confirmed the new planet during the Celebration panel.
At least two other planet scan be seen in the second The Force Awakens teaser, a forest world not unlike Endor and an ice planet not unlike Hoth. Take that how you will.
Characters
Again, we're only dealing with official character details on this page. That means that only CONFIRMED characters are on this list. Likewise, we're not sure what characters many of the cast members are playing in the film, so we've kept our speculation off this list, too. Go to page 2 if you want that speculation, though.
Besides Han, Chewie, Luke, Leia, C-3PO, and R2-D2 (because you should already know them), here are the confirmed characters of Star Wars: The Force Awakens...
Daisy Ridley as Rey
John Boyega as Finn
Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron
BB-8
Kylo Ren
Chrometrooper
The rest of the cast, in undisclosed roles, is as follows:
Adam Driver, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will also join the original stars of the saga. While their roles have not been confirmed, the internet has been guessing for months. Turn to page 2 for all that speculation.
Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie will also be in the film in undisclosed roles. Additionally, Carrie Fisher's daughter, Billie Lourd, has joined the cast. What role she's playing remains to be seen, but there's some serious speculation about a rather obvious choice. Christina Chong is also on board in an unnamed role. Game of Thrones' Miltos Yerolemou also has a small role.
Lizo Mzimba has been tweeting out confirmation of a number of minor roles. According to him Jessica Henwick (Nymeria in Game of Thrones season 5), James McCardle (as someone named "Xavier), Tony Bailey (as a Stormtrooper...guess they aren't clones anymore!), and Sam Carr (as a Padawan of some sort). Some badasses from The Raid 2 have also joined up.
We'll continue update the character list as we learn more details!
Other News
J.J Abrams is directing Star Wars: Episode VII. Initial press releases reported that the script would be written by Michael Arndt, scriptwriter of Toy Story 3, but in October of 2013 it was announced that Kasdan and Abrams had taken over scriptwriting duties.
Principal photography is complete! Of course, in a Star Warsmovie, this is barely half the battle, of course. Unsurprisingly, John Williams will be returning to provide the music, as will sound designer Ben Burtt and supervising sound editor Matthew Wood. Fight coordinator Nick Gillard said on Twitter that he is not working on the new films.
If the film sticks to that December 18, 2015 release date it will be the first live action Star Wars film not to be released in May.
Now, as we move on to this next page, beware, as that's where the unconfirmed rumors, speculation, and potential spoilers begin...