About
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is the title of the seventh movie in the main Star Wars episodic series, and the first film since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm. The film gained immense traction online following it’s announcement, and broke IMAX pre-sale records.[1] The film is also predicted to break box office records following its release.[2] The film has a scheduled release date on December 18th, 2015.
History
On October 30th, 2012, The Walt Disney Company announced in a press release[3] that it had acquired the Lucasfilms production company for $4.05 billion and planned to release a new Star Wars trilogy with the first installment, Episode 7, set for release sometime in 2015. On January 24th, 2013, the Hollywood news site The Wrap broke the news that Star Wars: Episode VII will be directed by J.J. Abrams, a veteran director and TV producer well known for directing the rebooted Star Trek films starting in 2009. On April 29th, 2014, the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII was announced on the official Star Wars website.[4] The cast will include Daisy Ridley, Andy Serkis, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Max von Sydow, Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac. It will also feature original Star Wars stars Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford.[5] On November 28th, 2014, the first teaser trailer was released on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (shown below, left). A second teaser was released on April 16th, 2015 (shown below, right).
On October 19th, 2015, the official trailer was released on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (shown below).
Online Relevance
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Related Memes
Crossguard Lightsaber
Crossguard Lightsaber refers to Force Awakens character, Kylo Ren’s lightsaber which appears to have a crossguard built in. The saber quickly became a subject for mockery online due to its perceived impracticality, and, in turn, spawned a number of parodies and edits.
#BlackStormtrooper
#BlackStormTrooper refers to the controversy surrounding British actor John Boyega’s portrayal of a Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens. Reactions to the reveal were both negative and positive in nature. Several image edits were also made in response to the controversy.
#BoycottStarWarsVII
#BoycottStarWarsVII is a Twitter hashtag ostensibly promoting a boycott of The Force Awakens for being racist toward whites. Many hijacked the hashtag in turn mocking its initial users for being racist themselves. It has also been noted that the hashtag may have been a hoax intended illicit a response from a politically correct demographic.
The Force Awakens Poster Parodies
The Force Awakens Poster Parodies are a series of photoshopped edits of the promotional poster for The Force Awakens. While most are done for a humorous effect, some are done in a serious manner to pay homage to either Star Wars or which ever franchise or fandom is being put in place of the original image.
Search Interest
External References
[1]CNBC– ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ breaks presale records
[2]Forbes – ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Will Shatter Box Office Records
[3]The Walt Disney Company – DISNEY TO ACQUIRELUCASFILMLTD.
[4]3news – Disney purchases Lucasfilm, announces new Star Wars
[5]The Hollywood Reporter – ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ Cast Revealed