‘Star Wars’ fans predict ‘The Force Awakens’ will be the most stellar film of the franchise

Close to two-thirds of Star Wars fans are expecting the latest episode in the long-running space opera, The Force Awakens, to be the best yet, according to a new poll.

An impressive 63 per cent of respondents were convinced J.J. Abrams’s movie would trump previous instalments, which include the original trilogy from 1977 to 1983, which broke box-office records and helped usher in the modern blockbuster era. Intriguingly, 36 per cent said “more advanced CGI” was their prime reason for going to see the movie, while 15 per cent cited the involvement of Abrams.

A quarter of respondents said a “more interesting story” was behind their interest, with another quarter mentioning the new instalment’s potential for cleaving closer to the style of the original trilogy and 14 per cent citing a better cast than previous episodes. Polling firm Harris Interactive spoke to 2,031 US adults, of whom 801 described themselves as Star Wars fans.

The Force Awakens, which opens in US cinemas on December 18, has been the bookies’ favourite to be 2015’s highest-grossing film since the first teaser trailer for J.J. Abrams’ space-opera reboot was released in November 2014. But a survey last week surprisingly suggested that more US filmgoers were looking forward to seeing the final instalment in blockbuster sci-fi saga The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2. Nevertheless, experts have already predicted Abrams’ film will open to a world record $615m (Dh2 billion) global total over its first weekend. The UK will be among the first countries to see The Force Awakens, on 17 December.