'The Empire Striketh Back': See Shakespeare Channel 'Star Wars'
With J.J Abrams’s "Star Wars: Episode VII" still so very far, far away, fans are pretty itchy in their space britches for some of the series intergalactic goodness.
Enter "William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back" by author Ian Doescher, the second installment of his best-selling Elizabethan adaptation of the original “Star Wars” film trilogy. And we have a first look at the book’s trailer right here on Yahoo Movies. (Yes, there are trailers for books now. Get used to it.)
You read that right: This is a book that reconceives “Star Wars” as a 16th century drama authored by the Bard himself. What could be more amazingly geektastic than that (apart from those “Star Wars” gowns at New York Fashion Week)?
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The Portland-based author was inspired by a reading of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” to make use of his love of all things Lucasfilm.
As the video preview reveals, Doescher penned his punny literary adaptation of “The Empire Strikes Back” in Shakespeare’s traditional iambic pentameter format — Yoda-isms included — and also features the typical trimmings of an Elizabethan parody (witty wordplay, creative character homages, etc.).
The result is some of the most familiar lines in the “Star Wars” franchise with a twist. Consider when Darth Vader announces, “Luke, I am thy father,” to which the young Skywalker protests, “Nay! ‘Tis not true. It is impossible!”
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Fans might recall the trailer for Doescher’s first installment, “William Shakespeare’s Star Wars.”
It featured a spin on the film’s famous opening which showcases free-floating text in outer space, but this time with Shakespeare’d phrases like, “Now, Princess Leia to her home doth flee…” In the first trailer, Darth Vader tells Obi-Wan Kenobi, “In time thy powers have weak become, old man.”
Zounds! The Force is strong in these books.
"Star Wars: Episode VII" is scheduled to hit theaters on Dec. 18, 2015, while "William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back" is available next Tuesday.
