Disney has revealed the official title of the next installment in the Star Wars series: The Force Awakens.
The title reveal of the seventh episode was announced on Thursday by Disney, Lucasfilm, and J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions on the franchise's official website following the completion of principal photography on the film.
Earlier this week, the cast of the film celebrated with an early wrap party showing a clean-shaven Mark Hamill, a recently recovered Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Andy Serkis, and more.
Star Wars: Episode VII is set approximately 30 years after the plot of 1983's Return of the Jedi, with many of the original series' veteran cast members returning to play aged versions of their original roles. With the Empire defeated and Darth Vader dead, The Force Awakens sees three young heroes setting out to begin a new journey that is said to last through this fresh trilogy, as well as three more spin-off films confirmed by Disney.
Screen Rant's Ben Kendrick took a deeper look at what the title may mean in the scheme of possibilities. "The notion that the Force 'Awakens,' certainly seems to back-up prior reports that Jedi heroes and Sith Lords are no longer out in the open in this timeframe of the Star Wars galaxy - a story beat that has been somewhat explored already in the new animated series Star Wars: Rebels. Thanks to Rebels, we already know that Darth Vader was using a non-Sith warrior, known as The Inquisitor, to track and kill potential threats to the Dark Side - forcing any surviving members of the Jedi order (and others who are force sensitive) into hiding."
He goes on to speculate on the new cast members and what their roles may mean. "We assume that at least one of the main characters (played by John Boyega and Daisy Ridley) will discover a sensitivity to the Force, which some could consider an 'Awakening' to untapped powers."
But the title struck many Star Wars fans the wrong way and pop culture sites like Gizmodo and Kotaku are already trying to gather up alternative titles from their readers such as 'Star Wars: The Kardashians Take Tatooine' and 'Star Wars: Return of the Lens Flare.'
Now that filming has wrapped, the film enters its post-production stage that will last throughout most of 2015, hopefully in time for its projected release date of December 18, 2015.
