Star Wars: Episode 7

It took Avatar two and half months to become the highest grossing movie of all time. Star Wars: The Force Awakens will surpass its domestic box office gross within the next day or two after less than three weeks in release. The big question now is when J.J. Abrams’ sequel will find its ceiling because as of right now, it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was always going to make enough money to make most blockbusters tremble in fear. That was inevitable. It’s a Star Wars movie. The big question lingering over this opening weekend concerned whether or not it’s surely enormous opening weekend would break the records set by Jurassic World earlier this year. And now, with the early estimates in, we can answer that question: yes and no.

By now, you probably know all about some of the cameos in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, like Daniel Craig’s secret appearance and the actors behind the voice of BB-8. But there are a couple more hidden cameos you most likely didn’t notice — as it turns out, Luke, Leia, Han and Admiral Ackbar aren’t the only classic characters from the original trilogy who appear in The Force Awakens, but J.J. Abra

The original Star Wars was driven by nostalgia for pulp magazines, Saturday-morning serials, and a simpler era with clear-cut heroes and villains. The new Star Wars is driven by nostalgia for the original Star Wars, and a simpler era when that title evoked words like “adventure” and “excitement,” and not words like “the taxation of trade routes,” and “Jar Jar Binks.” The characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens are all searching for something of great importance to the galaxy far, far away. I won’t reveal what this MacGuffin is, but I will tell you what it represents: that old Star Wars magic. Can director J.J. Abrams and the rest of the saga’s new creators find it?

Sure, there are lots of kids and teens buying Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys, but a long, long time ago in a galaxy that is actually this one, Star Wars belonged to another group of nerds — and those nerds are not going to let today’s kids take ownership of their fandom so easily, especially when these kids don’t know that action figures should STAY. IN. THE. BOX.

Q: What is the best part about getting a thing of fast-food french fries? A: Believing you have finished your cheat-day treat, only to discover that there are still a few stragglers with a pulse left in the bottom of the bag. This phenomenon might illuminate a bit of the logic behind the recent proliferation of post- and mid-credits scenes in studio blockbusters, the practice in which a film squir

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.

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens less than a month away from release and anticipation reaching a feverish level unseen in movie fans since 1999, the timing is right for SNL to gently skewer the upcoming sequel. The sketch is really just an excuse for the cast to break out a bunch of impersonations they’ve obviously been keeping in their back pockets while letting them interact with actual Star Wars cast members, but c’mon, that’s all the excuse you need, really.

Some of our countries bravest and brightest came together, completely remaking a Navy version of the new Star Wars trailer! Epic!

Just when you thought Star Wars might lay a little low this week after unleashing a new trailer, posters and a TV spot, we’ve got a couple of updates on the franchise, as Lucasfilm has released a new set of behind the scenes photos from The Force Awakens, while director J.J. Abrams is opening up about his involvement in the franchise, both present and future.

Harrison Ford appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night to talk publicly for the first time about breaking his ankle on the set of Star Wars, crashing his plane and how Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an “incredible” movie. Oh, we should also mention he did all this while dressed up as a hot dog.

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.