text: J.J. Abrams has assembled an eclectic cast for his take on 'Star Wars.' 
   
   Actors Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill have been included in the cast for 'Star Wars: Episode VII', which has been announced today. (Photo: Vince Bucci, Getty Images) 
   
   Long ago in a galaxy far, far away — or, more like two years ago when Disney purchased Lucasfilm — Star Wars fans maybe could have guessed that original stars such as Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher would be returning to the universe that George Lucas built. 
   
   The Jedi faithful probably weren't prescient enough, however, to predict some of the other arrivals to the ways of the Force: Andy Serkis from The Lord of the Rings movies, Oscar-nominated legend Max von Sydow and Adam Driver, a former Marine best known for his role in the HBO comedy series Girls. 
   
   The main cast of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII movie (due out Dec. 18, 2015) was revealed on Tuesday, and with his first Star Wars film, director J.J. Abrams has gathered an eclectic group of actors for the franchise's future. 
   
   "They have a good group of people who have a mix of demonstrated talent and fresh resumes. (These are) people who can fill into any role they need to and who won't be recognized for something they've done that will take audiences out of the movie," says Eric Geller of the Star Wars fan site TheForce.net. 
   
   But fans were also excited when Lucas put a talented group including Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor together for 1999's first Star Wars prequel, the much-maligned The Phantom Menace, reminds Mike Ryan, senior editor for Screencrush.com. 
   
   The big difference with the new crew? "Han Solo is sitting right there with them," Ryan says. 
   
   Ford, Fisher and Hamill have been rumored for months to reprise their roles as Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker — arguably the most famous sci-fi trio in history. 
   
   That wasn't good enough for Abrams, though. He also signed on stalwarts such as Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker to play droids C-3PO and R2-D2, plus Peter Mayhew as Han's Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca. 
   
   One notable snub, though, is Billy Dee Williams, notes Geller, who expected Williams to return as Cloud City huckster-turned-hero Lando Calrissian. 
   
   While Williams might still have a cameo, "Abrams has to make a movie that features Han, Luke and Leia, while handing the movie off to the newcomers," Ryan adds. "Perhaps there just wasn't enough room for Lando." 
   
   The returning six actors are fan favorites yet are getting up in age — Ford is 71, Hamill 62, Fisher 57 — and this is most likely Abrams' way to send them off in style while also passing the torch to a younger generation of potential icons. 
   
   Like Lucas with his original Star Wars in 1977, Abrams balanced slim resumes with vaunted ones to fill out his cast. And while no characters, good or bad, Jedi or Sith, have been assigned to any of the actors, Abrams cast a trio of youngsters much like Lucas' core three. 
   
   When they joined the first Star Wars, Ford was a veteran of TV roles and had a credit in Lucas' American Graffiti in 1973; Fisher boasted of a supporting role in Shampoo and a TV movie with her mom Debbie Reynolds; and Hamill hadn't even been seen on a big screen. 
   
   Similarly, Episode VII cast members John Boyega, Domhnall Gleeson and Daisy Ridley are all relative unknowns in the U.S. Boyega starred in the cult British alien-invasion flick Attack the Block and is "an excellent choice," Ryan says; Gleeson is the son of Irish actor Brendan Gleeson and had roles in the last two Harry Potter films; and Ridley's first big-screen credit is for a yet-to-be-released movie from last year, according to the TV/movie database IMDb. 
   
   "This is going to make her career," Geller says of Ridley, whom he guesses may play Han Solo's daughter. "If that's the case, I think it's a great choice to pick someone in her position." 
   
   Driver and Oscar Isaac may be more familiar to audiences. Isaac had a breakout role as a folk musician in last year's Coen brothers movie Inside Llewyn Davis, while Driver is famous for Girls. 
   
   Meanwhile, Abrams adds some geek royalty in Serkis and von Sydow. 
   
   Fans are probably wondering if Serkis will be seen as himself or whether he'll don the motion-capture suit for which he's become famous. He's helped bring life to the creepy, computer-generated Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, as well as Caesar the ape in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and July's sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. 
   
   Lucas brought in Hollywood thespians in Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing for that first Star Wars movie, and 85-year-old von Sydow fills that role in Episode VII and is famous for his role in 1980's Flash Gordon. 
   
   "It's funny that Lucas originally wanted the Flash Gordon rights, couldn't get them, then made Star Wars instead," Ryan says. "Now, Star Wars has Ming the Merciless. 
   
   Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Shannon Rae Green reveals what Star Wars fans are saying on social media about the cast list for Episode VII. Find out what some think is missing. (USA TODAY, USA NOW) 
   
   Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1iEIFaz ||||| The official title for the new 'Star Wars' film has been revealed. (Photo: Lucasfilm) 
   
   Star Wars Episode VII officially has a name to go with that number. 
   
   The movie will be called Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Disney announced Thursday. In a post on the official Star Wars Facebook page, they unveiled the title and revealed that the movie has finished its principal photography. 
   
   Although there has been plenty of speculation about the film's plot, very few official details have been released. Fans will look for any clues they might be able to discern from this announcement. The title, like the film's casting, calls on both the old and new parts of the franchise. The "force" is, of course, the element that the Jedi knights in the films derive their power from, introduced in the very first Star Wars movie. The fact that it's "awakening" could refer to the new characters the film will introduce. 
   
   Star Wars: The Force Awakens will hit theaters on Dec. 18, 2015. 
   
   Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1qrJGD9 ||||| See more of Star Wars on Facebook ||||| If you feel a disturbance in the Force, it’s millions of voices suddenly crying out the new title of Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens. 
   
   The reveal comes as the movie finishes its final day of shooting (with many more months of post-production to come). 
   
   Now the heavy-duty fans will weigh in, and their judgment tends to be far less forgiving than The Emperor or Darth Vader. The one thing we can all agree on is it beats the hell out of The Phantom Menace, and although it strikes a little close to the vanilla side, it may be reassuring to some who are glad the new trilogy is going tried-and-true rather than skewing campy, vague, or avant-garde. 
   
   It does raise one question: Has the Force been … slumbering? We certainly saw it help Luke Skywalker launch those proton torpedoes into the thermal exhaust port of the original Death Star, and as “Weird Al” Yankovic sang in his immortal Kinks spoof Yoda “I picked up a box / I lifted some rocks / While I stood on my head.” The Force was certainly at work there, right. And the Dark Side was getting a workout helping Darth Vader crush windpipes of the people who disappointed him. 
   
   But remember Han Solo dismissing talk of the Force with “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.” Maybe this energy that binds the galaxy together has only been visible to a select few, while the denizens of the galaxy put their faith in the science and technology of interstellar travel? 
   
   Whatever the case, the Force is hitting the snooze button for now. We won’t know the full story until 13 months from now. 
   
   The cast and crew of the J.J. Abrams film already celebrated their wrap party last weekend, although sources told EW there were still a few days left before the cameras at Pinewood Studios outside London. The shoot — spanning from the deserts of Abu Dhabi to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England — was anything but smooth, having been thrown into crisis after Han Solo himself, Harrison Ford, broke his leg on set in an accident involving a falling door on the Millennium Falcon. 
   
   The set was also plagued by spoiler leaks — or was it? The flow of rumors and apparent concept images has been non-stop, but how much of it is accurate remains an open question. The grapevine got the title wrong, with some fan sites such as Ain’t It Cool News grabbing headlines by reporting that it had confirmed the film would be called The Ancient Fear. 
   
   Of course, Return of the Jedi was filmed under the fake title Blue Harvest, a common technique on high profile films to remain slightly more low-key. (The Avengers, for instance, was nicknamed Group Hug.) 
   
   The new Star Wars film, which picks up three decades after the events of Return of the Jedi, is headlined by original trilogy stars Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), with new additions including Lupita Nyong’o (the best supporting actress Oscar-winner from 12 Years a Slave) and Gwendoline Christie, the 6-foot-3 British actress best known as the female knight Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones. 
   
   Other new additions include Adam Driver (Girls), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), John Boyega (Attack the Block), newcomer Daisy Ridley, performance-capture maestro Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), and the imperious Max von Sydow from The Exorcist. 
   
   Hype is already underway. C-3PO star Daniels recently tweeted this expectation-setter: 
   
   "No movie sequel is better than The Empire Strikes Back." You might eat those words for Xmas dinner in 2015. Joy & Indigestion to the world! — Anthony Daniels (@ADaniels3PO) November 3, 2014 
   
   Episode VII, er … The Force Awakens, produced by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and veteran Abrams collaborator Bryan Burke, is set for release Dec. 18, 2015. 
   
   So do you like this title, or would you rather kiss a Wookiee? 
   
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target: – The next Star Wars movie has an official title. Episode VII of the classic franchise will be titled Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Disney announced today on Facebook. The post also revealed that principal photography is now complete. The movie opens Dec. 18 of next year, USA Today reports, and very few other details are officially known other than the fact that it reportedly takes place three decades after Return of the Jedi. The cast was announced earlier this year, and in addition to old favorites (Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew), the movie will star Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Max von Sydow, and Lupita Nyong'o, plus a number of young, little-known actors. The original movies, of course, also featured a trio of relative unknowns, and USA Today speculates on the meaning of the title: "The fact that [the force is] 'awakening' could refer to the new characters the film will introduce." Entertainment Weekly notes that the title raises a question: "Has the Force been … slumbering? ... Maybe this energy that binds the galaxy together has only been visible to a select few, while the denizens of the galaxy put their faith in the science and technology of interstellar travel?" OK, so that may not tell us much, but at least one important person has high hopes for the new film: Daniels, perhaps better known as C-3PO, tweeted Sunday: "'No movie sequel is better than The Empire Strikes Back.' You might eat those words for Xmas dinner in 2015. Joy & Indigestion to the world!"