On December 18th, 2015, millions will travel to movie theaters across the United States to watch the midnight premiere of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. The Force Awakens is the seventh installment of the very popular Star Wars saga. When the tickets went on sale, Fandango saw web traffic increase to seven times larger than its previous record held by Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two.

The Force Awakens takes place thirty years after the defeat of the Galactic Empire. After killing Darth Vader and blowing up the Death Star, Han Solo and his allies are faced with the task of defeating a new enemy, Kylo Ren and his army of Stormtroopers. The film brings back actors from the original hexalogy including Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker).

Instead of using the most modern technology and effects, JJ Abrams, the director of the new film, used old school special effects to connect the new film with the original trilogy. Abrams felt that the “prequels in were flawed by the fact that they had every [CG] tool known to mankind and used everything at their disposal.” Abram’s and his team extensively research the techniques used first three films. In terms of visual effects, they shot as much in-camera as they could, which meant building extensive sets, big models, and using matte paintings instead of relying on the green screen technology that was so prevalent in the prequels. There is still going to be CGI (Computer-generated imagery) in the film, but it will only be used in strategic places. The Force Awakens will bring the audience back to the original galaxy shown in the first three films.

The highly anticipated first full length trailer aired during ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” game between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles on October 19th, and it lived up to its expectations. Afterwards, both the internet and social media blew up. The footage has been viewed nearly 60 million times on the official “Star Wars” YouTube channel (as of November 20, 2015). The number of tweets jumped from 3,700 per minute before the trailer aired, to more than 17,000 tweets per minute — or about 283 tweets per second. There were 1.1 million about the trailer over the first twelve hours after it aired. On Facebook 1.3 million people engaged in 2.1 million interactions within the first hour of the trailer release. When asked about her favorite part of the trailer, Wilmington Friends School student, Sydney Gardner ‘16, said, “my favorite part was seeing some of the characters from the original movies like Han Solo. I can’t wait to see it in theatres. It is going to be great!”

Movie complexes all over the United States quickly added more showtimes in order to deal with the high demand for tickets. The movie has already sold more than six times the previous record holder for presales in IMAX theaters bringing in $ 6.5 million. The film passed The Dark Knight Rises, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and Avengers, all of which earned approximately $1 million in presales.

The hype that comes with the premiere of The Force Awakens has even reached the Wilmington Friends School community. Whittier asked Drew Mangan ‘17, a well known Star Wars enthzusiast, about his feelings towards the seventh film. He commented, “I am very excited for the new Star Wars movie. I think that JJ Abrams and Disney will continue this wonderful saga. I have already bought two tickets for opening weekend, but I plan on seeing it five more times before it leaves the theaters.” Drew is one of the few premiere ticket holders, and when asked how much he would sell them for, he replied saying, “They are priceless, but if I had to put a price on them I’d say $100,000.” When asked who his favorite and least favorite characters were, he answered with, “Jar Jar Binks is my least favorite, and my favorite is Luke Skywalker. I am looking to forward to seeing Kylo Ren in the new Saga because of his mysterious background.” Mangan can clearly has a respectable opinion on the film.

The 7th film in the Saga, produced by LucasFilm and Disney, opens up in theaters on December 18th as the first of multiple films planned for the future. A new Star Wars film is planned for release every year until 2019. It looks like for the next 4 years, no box office records are safe. The Force Awakens is predicted to gross more than any other film ever and could possibly pass $2 billion in earnings. The force will not only be awakened, but revitalized in American culture.