Thousands of die-hard Star Wars fans — more than a few bearing lightsabers and clad in homemade costumes — came in to the opening panel at the Star Wars Celebration fan convention in Anaheim with three big questions.
Would J.J. Abrams, director of the highly anticipated Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, show a new trailer? Would Harrison Ford — still recovering from a plane crash last month — make his first appearance at a Star Wars convention? And would fresh plot details about the new film — not hitting cinemas until December 18, an excruciatingly long wait for the faithful — finally be unveiled?
The answers were yes, no and, as Yoda might say, “Patience, young Skywalker”.
In a presentation on Thursday morning at the Anaheim Convention Centre that was heavy on nostalgia for the much-loved nearly 40-year-old space-opera franchise but relatively light on new information, Abrams and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy sought to convey the message that Star Wars is in the hands of people who share their deep passion. Many of the faithful had waited overnight to get the first official word about the reboot.
To establish his own fan bona fides, Abrams recalled watching the original 1977 Star Wars when it first hit cinemas. “I was 11 years old — and 11 was a great age to have my mind blown,” he said, noting that he dressed up as a Jawa one Halloween.
Fans, who were sharply divided on Lucas’ three CGI-heavy Star Wars prequels, applauded Abrams when he spoke of taking a retro approach with the new film.
“It’s Star Wars — there are going to be an endless number of effects, CG and otherwise,” Abrams said. “But we needed to set a standard that was real, that felt like you knew those people were in those places.” To that end, the film was partly shot in Abu Dhabi, which Abrams revealed was standing in for a desert planet called Jakku.
A trio of younger stars from The Force Awakens — John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Daisy Ridley — were brought to the stage, along with a new roly-poly droid character named BB-8. The actors, none of whom were born when Star Wars first came out, offered a few new details about their characters: Boyega revealed that his Finn was a Stormtrooper who was in “incredible danger” at the film’s outset, while Ridley said her Rey was a “scavenger in a ship graveyard,” and Isaac said his Poe Dameron was a fighter pilot sent on a mission “by a certain princess” — presumably Leia, played by a Carrie Fisher.
Fisher and several other returning cast members from the original trilogy, including Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), were brought onstage, reinforcing the sense of continuity between the older films and the new one. “It’s amazing to be part of so many people’s childhood — and to be a toy,” said Fisher, a noted writer and humourist. She added wryly, “Thank you for playing with me.”
In the days leading up to the convention, rumours had circulated in the Star Wars fan community that Ford might make an appearance. But Abrams and Kennedy said he was still recuperating from injuries stemming from his crash landing of a vintage airplane on a Los Angeles golf course on March 5. “How he landed the plane — he’s more of a hero with that move than he is in any of the movies he’s been in,” Abrams said.
Whereas Fisher’s Leia was the only major female character in the original trilogy, Kennedy assured fans that, going forward, the Star Wars universe would introduce more women. “There are going to be a lot of new wonderful characters,” she said.
But what fans were most hungering for was a new peek at The Force Awakens, which the filmmakers saved for the panel’s end. The new trailer was clearly engineered to hit nostalgia buttons, featuring shots of Darth Vader’s battered mask and an X-wing Fighter dogfight and concluding with Ford’s Han Solo saying to his furry sidekick Chewbacca, “Chewie, we’re home” — a moment that brought the house down.
A panel on Sunday morning will feature filmmakers Gareth Edwards and Josh Trank, who have signed on to direct the first two Star Wars spin-off films.
