Patience is a Jedi virtue, and Star Wars fans have many more months to wait before the release of the next film, The Last Jedi. But Disney and Lucasfilm threw them a bone on Friday with the first trailer for the new film.
Google’s YouTube (GOOGL) and Verizon (VZ) teamed up to stream more than 30 hours of live events events from Star Wars Celebration, a convention popular with fans that Disney has super-sized and used as a massive marketing and buzz generator since its $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012.
The show commenced on Thursday with a panel honoring the 40th anniversary of the original Star Wars, featuring the film’s actors (such as Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford) as well as Star Wars creator, George Lucas. The stars and fans also paid tribute to the late Carrie Fisher.
Director Rian Johnson and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy opened Friday’s events with never-before-seen photos from the London set of The Last Jedi. In another sign of Disney (DIS) synergy, Josh Gad—who has appeared in Mouse House hits like Frozen and Beauty and the Beast—hosted a panel with Johnson, Kennedy, and the latest film’s stars, including Hamill, Daisy Ridley, and John Boyega.
Without any spoilers or commentary, here is the official trailer:
Star Wars: #TheLastJedi. Arriving in your galaxy December 15. pic.twitter.com/txUht2OtO8
— Star Wars (@starwars) April 14, 2017
Following the record-smashing releases of both The Force Awakens in 2015 and the first spinoff film, Rogue One, last December, The Last Jedi has impossible expectations.
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The house that George Lucas built restarted the buzz hyperdrive in January by revealing the title of the next Star Wars film (a.k.a. Episode VIII) in what Disney’s now-canon universe refers to as the “Skywalker Saga.” Immediately, the title was dissected on social media (and even more so since with the title translations in other languages) if there are spoilers in the title. (Meaning, fans want to know if “Jedi” is plural or singular in this case.)
The franchise will also yield another spinoff film, featuring a younger version of the franchise’s Han Solo character, first brought to life by Ford. The first cast photo was released in February.
