Disney is out today with a new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the -directed resuscitation of ’s fabled space franchise. The action in the new teaser certainly looks cutting edge, and there is a sentimental tug when Harrison Ford’s Han Solo shows up alongside Chewbacca. The new film likely will rival Avengers: Age Of Ultron for supremacy in global box office this year, but just how does the new movie, and the way films are globally marketed with an array of spectacle, compare with Fox’s awareness building campaign in 1977? Take a trip down memory lane, for those of you who were around back then, when it was clear we were going to see something unprecedented. And then decide whether they were better at telling and selling stories back then, or if today’s penchant for rapid-fire teaser trailers has taken old marketing techniques to warp speed: The original Star Wars trailer: Just debuted at @SW_Celebration: a suspenseful new teaser for #TheForceAwakens.
— Star Wars (@starwars) April 16, 2015 Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Happenings at Kanata’s Castle Part 1! SPOILERS FROM STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS! DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN UNSPOILED AND DO NOT OPENLY SHARE THIS CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND RUIN IT FOR OTHERS! The Star Wars Post discussed Miltos’ involvement with Star Wars: The Force Awakens this morning (and you can see my thoughts there). Miltos is apparently a patron at Maz’s place. We don’t know what he does there but he’s certainly a patron. The sequence at Maz’s is worth a second look. Some of this will be old information and some of it, particularly in the connective tissue, will be new. I want to firm up a few details. There’s still a lot to learn from these moments in the film but you can see how the show will play out. As the Falcon slows up above the green planet, Rey gets emotional at seeing so much green around her.
We then see Kanata’s castle. Finn asks Han who they are there to see and he replies “her.” The Falcon flies closer to Maz’s castle and we see a giant statue (of Maz and that is what I believe Han is gesturing towards when he says “her”). The Falcon lands on the dock. Han, Rey, Finn, and BB-8 exit the ship. Chewbacca stays aboard the ship. Han gives Rey one of his blasters as it can be a dangerous place inside. As the heroes walk through the castle courtyard, Han tells Rey and Finn that Maz is a bit unusual. They enter the ground level of the castle. The place itself is a little unusual to the young heroes. Han asks Maz for help. The history between Han Solo and Maz comes up (apparently they didn’t end on the best of terms). Rey and Finn have drinks while Han and Maz talk off to the side. Rey gets into some trouble with a patron. Finn tries to help her but Chewbacca shows up just in time to save the day and deal with the thug. Han Solo gives one more impassioned plea to Maz.
We then cut to the First Order parade grounds on the snow planet where General Hux is giving a powerful speech to his Stormtroopers. Meanwhile in space near Maz’s planet, emissary Korr Sella is aboard a Resistance ship which travels towards Maz’s castle in name of General Organa. On the snow planet, as General Hux finishes his speech, the Stormtroopers all turn around (seen in the second teaser). We then see engineers pulling levers and pushing buttons as they ready their Starkiller weapon to fire. As it fires we see shots from above the ground as the weapon fires from beneath the surface, altering the terrain near the weapon in the process. The Stormtroopers at the rally all cheer in the fervor of the firing of their weapon’s might! Back at Maz’s place, Finn and Rey walk in the courtyard. They look up to see something terrible in the sky. On the ground level of the castle, Maz is telling Han she doesn’t know much about Leia (General Organa) these days.
In space above the green planet, Korr Sella sees a flash of light. She knows it is over for her. Her ship meets its doom from the Starkiller’s blast. A Star Destroyer that came on the scene at about that moment comes into frame and we see the silhouette of the ship as the blast lights up the darkness of space. In space, Kylo Ren watches the blasts from his lander as he heads for Maz’s castle. General Organa and her staff react to the destruction of the emissary’s ship from the Resistance war room. Han Solo and Maz hear the commotion and exit the castle to the courtyard and see the weapon firing as they look on in horror (note these reaction shots are likely to be intercut with one another if the delayed reaction seems confusing). Maz ushers the heroes inside the castle and down a staircase. On the staircase she tells them who Luke Skywalker was and why he is important. They enter an underground chamber. Maz has them all hold hands. Bodies are on the ground.
Then we see Artoo-Detoo upset as his master leaves him. We then see a reprise of the hand taking the lightsaber and Nakka is revealed. We then see a peasant dropping the lightsaber and starting a fire. He panics and runs, but decides to go back for the lightsaber, saving it. We then see a local trader walking away with the weapon. The trader sells the sword to a prosperous man. Then there’s a battle raging and the sword is being used by the clan against the Seven. They are all dead and we see Kylo Ren approaching Rey. The Seven are looting and Maz takes an object (Rey?) from the battlefield. Maz then presents the lightsaber to heroes. Finn wants it and Rey does not. She’s repelled by it. The group doesn’t notice as Rey runs away, up the stairs, through the bar, and outside into the courtyard. Rey runs from the castle courtyard into the woods. Maz knows why the saber came to Rey. BB-8 catches up with Rey in the woods. That’s when the First Order appears overheard.