Eight years ago today, the long-awaited sequel to Return of the Jedi – The Force Awakens – arrived in US cinemas, and even though the film had debuted in other territories and enjoyed a world premiere in LA on the 14th and a European premiere in the UK on the 16th, no one could anticipate the enormous success that was waiting for the film. By the time all was said and done, Episode VII would bring in $2.068 billion globally, at the time the third highest grossing film ever with $936.7 million of that taken in North America alone, still the record holder by a long distance.
To celebrate, here are two of the teasers and the trailer that broke the internet.
Has it really been 8 years? In the time since the arrival of Episode VII we’ve had the continuation and completion of Star Wars Rebels, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker wrapping up the Skywalker Saga. There was 2016’s billion dollar grossing Rogue One, the criminally underrated Solo, the return and completion of The Clone Wars, Forces of Destiny, Galaxy of Adventures, the brilliant Bad Batch, Star Wars Visions and Tales of the Jedi. Then there’s the blockbusting world of Disney Plus and live action The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor and Ahsoka and there’s so much more to come. Without the once-in-a-generation success of The Force Awakens, maybe it wouldn’t have taken off so incredibly.
