‘Star Wars’ Book Series To Fill Gaps Prior To ‘The Force Awakens’ Release
So what happened between Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens? We will now be able to find out thanks to a series of books in the works by Disney.
The studio is going all out to bring a new generation of fans on board to visit that galaxy far, far away. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the much anticipated continuation of the George Lucas saga, which started with his original trilogy, beginning with the release of A New Hope in 1977, also known as the original trilogy or the sequels.
Star Wars books are nothing new, but these promise to be interesting as they will cover the span of the 30-years between the end of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. What happens to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) after the defeat of the Death Star? Do Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) get married and have more little Jedis?
The new books will serve the same purpose as those who were written after the original trilogy and prequels were released, to fill the gaps in the narrative. Entertainment Weekly reports that Disney Worldwide Publishing and Lucasfilm Press are working on deals with several publishers, including Dorling Kindersley (DK) and Marvel, which published the first Star Wars book in 1977.
Journey To Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be a series of books which will be marketed to different age groups. One of the most interesting things about Episode VII, is that, by bringing back the original cast members, Disney is pulling in die-hard fans, while at the same time, casting up-and-comers to appeal to the younger generation, who is expected to embrace the franchise.
But the new Star Wars books will not only be interesting to new fans, who will learn about the characters they will see in The Force Awakens. It will give those anxiously anticipating the sequel some insight into a mostly unknown storyline.
Director J.J. Abrams has done a masterful job at keeping the plot details a secret, which is no small feat in the age of social media. Despite reports of leaks all along, nothing has been confirmed and we don’t have any official details. Even the teaser trailer gave little away in the form of characters or plot, with short glimpses at the newcomers.
Disney Publishing Worldwide’s Andrew Sugerman spoke to EW about all the secrecy surrounding Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
“The Force Awakens is an extraordinarily, heavily guarded storyline. To track it, a lot of top-secret meetings were happening up in San Francisco as we worked through this program. The partnership with the story group and the editorial team always had to be true to the sanctity of the film while making sure that we find these moments to introduce hints, clues, and puzzle pieces. Without revealing what those pieces are, it will just allow readers to speculate about the new film: What could a location mean, or what could a character mean?”
The new Journey To Star Wars book series is comprised of about 20 titles, which will delight new readers with stories retelling the adventures established fans already know and love from A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi from the perspective of different characters. Disney wants to prepare younger readers to what they can expect to see in that galaxy far, far away this coming December.
[Image via Lucasfilm]
