Star Wars

Despite some early concerns, most would agree that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a diverse film. The three leads are a woman, a black man and a Cuban man. One of the main enemies is a woman. One of the major new characters is played by a black woman. Princess Leia is now General Leia Organa. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s a very solid step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it may have been a little too far in the right direction for some countries. A new Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster from China has been revealed and, despite being one of the two main stars of the film, they’ve shrunk down black actor John Boyega in half.

George Lucas recently commented about why he walked away from Star Wars and it’s all your fault. In a new video interview for Vanity Fair, the Star Wars creator voiced some of his frustrations with the past of the franchise and his hopes for the future, yielding some uncharacteristically candid soundbites.

Back in October, Ashley Fleetwood, the wife of Daniel Fleetwood, a terminally ill Star Wars fan, started the #ForceForDaniel campaign to help her husband see Star Wars: The Force Awakens before he died. Daniel, a lifelong fan who camped out for tickets to see the prequel trilogy, was given only two months to live in July and both he and his wife knew he wasn’t going to be able to make it until opening day. On November 5, Disney, Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams made Daniel’s dying wish come true by bringing Star Wars: The Force Awakens to his home in Spring, Texas. Daniel Fleetwood died last night, just five days after his Star Wars screening, at the age of 32.

Stephen Colbert may be the wildly successful host of a popular late night talk show on a major television network, but that doesn’t change who he really is: a huge nerd. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson said of Colbert, “I have never met a bigger Tolkien geek in my life.” The Late Show host appeared in The Desolation of Smaug and hosted a Hobbit panel at Comic-Con. But his geek cred is not limited to Middle Earth. Last night, Colbert delivered an impassioned prediction of how Star Wars: The Force Awakens will end, and the funniest thing is, he wasn’t joking.

Star Wars is everywhere right now, with the impending release of the newest installment in the saga, "Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens." But we want to take you back to another time when "Star Wars" gripped the country, leading to some truly bizarre appearances, like the time when C3PO and R2D2 sung with Big Bird on "Sesame Street"!

Disney and Lucasfilm are trying very hard to preserve the secrets of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. There are reports that the film won’t screen for critics until the day before it opens in theaters. And there are rumors that not only will there be no more trailers, but that the TV spots that run won’t use any new footage and everything you’ve seen so far, is all you’re going to get. But, even as they try to keep a carbonite fist on spoilers, J.J. Abrams has to leave his house. As much as Disney would like, they can’t keep him chained up in a Rancor pit until December 17. The dude has to go out in public. And that he did just the other day, and as people shouted at him “LUKE!!! WHERE’S LUKE!!!!” he was obliged to answer.

Has there ever been as much hype for one movie trailer as there is right now for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer? (Except maybe the last Star Wars trailer? And, maybe the Star Wars trailer before that?) Fan anticipation has been at a fever pitch for the last few days, but the waiting is finally over. Enough hype, it’s time for you to actually sit down, take a deep breath and watch official, final Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer in all its glory.

Following our early reports of Star Wars: The Force Awakens ticket pre-sales, Disney and Lucasfilm has confirmed the details of the advanced ticket sales. Tickets will officially be made available for pre-sale tomorrow night during ESPN’s Monday Night Football, timed to the release of the new — and final — official trailer for The Force Awakens.

Back in 2012, Disney and Netflix struck a deal that would allow all of Disney’s films — including Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars properties — to stream exclusively on Netflix Instant, starting on January 1, 2016. As that date approaches, many have speculated openly about the Star Wars films finally coming to Netflix. There were even rumors recently that Netflix was prepping their database for the Star Wars movies, though Netflix denied those reports. While they have yet to comment specifically on the existing six films in the Star Wars library, Netflix did confirm that, as of now, they do not have the rights to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but are currently in negotiations to bring that title to their streaming library.

Alright, Star Wars fans, what are you doing on Monday, October 19? Nope, sorry. Whatever you thought you were doing, you might want to readjust your plans, because you’re going to be sitting in front of your computer, watching the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer and pre-ordering your tickets for December 18. At least that’s according to multiple early reports, as well as some of our sources as well.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams made a concerted effort to return more practical effects to his Star Wars film and the new trilogy. While no one will come out and say it, this seems like a direct response to George Lucas’ prequel trilogy, which featured a lot of CGI. In fact, in The Phantom Menace, there’s only shot in the entire movie that has no CGI. That’s just one of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which goes back in time with the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy!

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens only three months away from release, Disney and Lucasfilm are waist-deep in their plan to ensure that every human being on the planet with access to a movie theater will go see their new movie. Now, the next phase is upon us: put all six films on Netflix, to remind any doubters that they like Star Wars.

Despite being the lead villain and one of the most iconic characters in cinematic history, Darth Vader only has 12 minutes of screen time in the first Star Wars movie; that’s less than 10% of the movie. That’s just one of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which catches up with the Sith Lord, Darth Vader!

While he only has only four lines of dialogue and you never see his face, Boba Fett has gone on to become one of the most popular characters in Star Wars lore. But, it turns out his iconic design was actually just taken from a rejected sketch for Darth Vader. That’s just one of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which checks out your favorite bounty hunter with Boba Fett!

So much of Han Solo’s appeal is due to Harrison Ford’s portrayal of the legendary smuggler. It’s an iconic character elevated by an iconic performance. But it almost didn’t happen. Early in the development of Star Wars, Han Solo was a big, green-skinned alien Jedi with gills and no nose. Once George Lucas decided he wanted a human character, he actually almost cast Billy Dee Williams in the part, before reconsidering him for Lando Calrissian. That’s just one of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which catches up with the captain of the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo!

There were a lot of exciting toys announced yesterday during the epic 18-hour Star Wars Force Friday reveals, but none as exciting as the BB-8 toy from Sphero. We’ve been gushing about BB-8 since Star Wars Celebration and counting down the days until we could own one. And now that the day is here, it is perhaps even more fun than we imagined.