star wars

If you’re one of those people who can’t get enough ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ spoilers, first, might we recommend our weekly Wookieepedia ‘Star Wars’ round up? With that shameless plug out of the way, let us now offer you ‘Star Wars’ spoiler addicts some advice from Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. CHILL OUT.

The only official release plans for ‘Star Wars’ so far include ‘The Force Awakens’ on December 18, and the first spinoff/standalone film, which will hit theaters on December 16, 2016. As for the rest of the new ‘Star Wars’ films: it’s been reported for a while that Disney plans on releasing a new film each year for the next several years, but the studio hasn’t made anything publicly official…until now.

When Disney bought George Lucas’ company, they got more than the buildings, computers, droids, and the ‘Star Wars’ intellectual property. They also got George Lucas’ unused ideas for future ‘Star Wars’ movies. Though Lucas had insisted for years that ‘Revenge of the Sith’ was his final ‘Star Wars’ film, that didn’t stop him from brainstorming a few other potential stories that could be set after the events of ‘Return of the Jedi’ (and, I assume, mostly involve Jar-Jar Binks wandering the universe and getting into “hilarious” misadventures).

The first ‘Star Wars’ standalone film is set to hit theaters in 2016, and although it’s currently seeking a replacement screenwriter, it looks as though production is gearing up on the Gareth Edwards project. Both Rooney Mara and ‘Orphan Black’ star Tatiana Maslany are testing for a leading role in the untitled film, which has been rumored as a heist film involving Boba Fett.

Although all of the public focus is currently on the looming release of ‘Star Wars: Episode 7,’ Disney, Lucasfilm and director Gareth Edwards are currently trying to whip the first standalone film in the saga into shape. A few days ago, original screenwriter Gary Whitta amicably departed the project after completing his initial draft, leading the entire internet to wonder what’s next for this mysterious project, which is still due out in 2016. Now, it looks like the next screenwriter writer has already been found. Enter Simon Kinberg.

Last month, George Lucas was asked if he had seen the ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ trailer, and what his reaction was. He said he hadn’t watched the ‘Force Awakens’ trailer, had no plans to and was “not really” interested in the movie. We made him sad, we wrote at the time. But, maybe it wasn’t us that made him sad. While out promoting his new animated movie ‘Strange Magic’, Lucas reveals that he himself wanted to direct ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’.

With all of his projects, J.J. Abrams has shown extraordinary good taste in casting and ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ is no different. Forget about the old-timers returning to the saga and think about John Boyega, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie and the other terrific thespians being given the biggest spotlight of their careers. Abrams, more than most working filmmakers, knows how to showcase an actor or actress in a way that makes us wonder why they weren’t movie stars before he cast them. Anyway, this is just a longwinded way of getting around to saying that Abrams’ impeccable taste is once again on display since a trio of actors from ‘The Raid’ and ‘The Raid 2’ are apparently in ‘The Force Awakens.’

Recent weeks have seen excitement for Disney XD’s ‘Star Wars Rebels’ somewhat eclipsed by revelations of ‘The Force Awakens’ trailer, but it seems the animated series will seek to establish yet another major connection to the films. Not only will Master Yoda pop up in a future ‘Star Wars Rebels’ installment, but the character will be voiced by his original portrayer and puppeteer, Frank Oz.

Last week saw the official announcement of some of the new 'Star Wars: Episode 7' characters' names. There was Kylo Ren, Finn, Rey, BB-8, and who could forget Poe Dameron. But, there's one more new 'Star Wars' character whose name has been revealed and if you thought "Kylo Ren" sounded silly, wait until you hear this: Captain Phasma.

We never did get a ‘Spaceballs’ sequel, but now we have something almost as good: A ‘Spaceballs’ parody trailer of the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ teaser.

Much was made about how the ‘Avengers 2' trailer broke online viewing records for 2014, shattering the previous record by ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. But, records were made to be broken and it took just over a month for the ‘Avengers 2’ trailer to be surpassed, not surprisingly by the ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ trailer, which, if it keeps up at its current pace, could set the all-time record for trailer views.

The ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ trailer just premiered online last week, but if you’re already starved for new footage (and, who could blame you after that teaser), we’ve got word on when you can see the next ‘Star Wars’ trailer. The bad news is you’re going to have to wait a while. The good news is, you were going to see ‘Avengers 2’ anyway, so now you have the added bonus of seeing a new ‘Star Wars: Episode 7' trailer before Iron Man and Captain America start punching on some evil robots.