'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Sets World Premiere Date and City
By Rebecca Ford, Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter
This is the premiere you are looking for.
Disney and Lucasfilm will unveil Star Wars: The Force Awakens at a massive world premiere in Los Angeles on Dec. 14, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
From there, the highly-anticipated reboot will jump into lightspeed and head for a premiere in London, followed by other events around the world.
The Los Angeles premiere is sure to be one of the hottest tickets in recent Hollywood history, with executives, agents and journalists jockeying for a coveted invite. In addition, Disney is attempting to keep the film’s secrets under wraps, so there will be minimal screenings for press and cast and crew in advance of the premiere. While members of the cast of the J.J. Abrams-helmed film have appeared at Comic-Con and Star Wars Celebration over the past year, the world premiere also is likely to be the first time that most or all of the cast will be seen together.
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It’s not clear who will walk the red carpet but the movie does boast a large cast of newcomers and veterans. Original Star Wars stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhew are returning for the new film. John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac play the three main protagonists, with Domhnall Gleeson, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, Max von Sydow and Lupita Nyong’o also starring.
The premiere likely will bring out the industry’s fervent fans, meaning getting on the invite list will be tougher than sneaking into one of Jabba the Hutt’s swinging parties. Disney had no comment on the date and location of the world premiere.
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The original Star Wars, now subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope, had its premiere at Hollywood’s Chinese Theatre in May 1977.
The last Star Wars movie to have an LA premiere was Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which debuted May 12, 2005 in Westwood at the Mann Village Theatre. It was a one of a series of premieres around the world that benefited charities, in that case Artists for a New South Africa.
But while Sith was the last live-action Star Wars movie be unveiled in Hollywood’s backyard, the most recentStar Wars-related premiere belongs to the animated feature Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which had its debut at the Egyptian Theatre on Aug. 10, 2008.
The Force Awakens will begin to hit theaters on Dec. 17 in the U.K. and Dec. 16 in France, prior to its wide debut in the U.S. on Dec. 18.
Related: New 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ TV Spot Teases First Order
Watch our video about ‘Star Wars’ Celebration:
