In the what will be an undoubtedly big run-up to the December 2015 release of J.J. Abrams’ entry into the Star Wars franchise, the first salvo has been fired. A teasing and tantalizing (Tauntaun-free, because who can resist an alliteration opportunity like this) trailer has been released into the the Youtube-verse by Disney. Within the 24 hours since splash-down, it’s grabbed over sixteen million views and garnered over 41,000 comments. So, what’s the big deal? Let’s see:
“There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?”, intones the currently anonymous narrator, speculated by bloggers elsewhere to be Dawn of the Plant of the Apes, Andy Serkis, who is officially listed as part of the production, or Sherlock‘s Benedict Cumberbatch, who is not. But this isn’t the only element to be speculated upon by Star Wars’ internet fans and foes. The ninety-second trailer reveals none of the bigger-named stars and instead sets a tone of adventure mixed with something new and something nostalgic, hitting all the notes.
Therefore, we will make the following predictions: 1) Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be the highest-grossing movie ever made, except for Titanic and Avatar, because James Cameron, 2) Episode VII will be J.J. Abrams’ biggest grosser ever, except for the Star Wars follow-up and 3) Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford will look much better than they have any right to, given the first appearance of all three in the franchise 38 years prior .
The first comment around here was, “I’d see that.” You and everybody else, we’d wager. Coming to a theatre near you in just over a year from now, with lots of promo until then, and maybe even a product tie-in or two. Don’t worry – you won’t be able to miss it. And that, you can take to the bank.