when was star wars the force awakens released
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Star Wars: The Force Awakens was widely anticipated, and Disney backed the film with extensive marketing campaigns. It premiered in Los Angeles on December 14, 2015 before its wide release in the United States on December 18. The film received highly positive reviews from critics, with praise aimed at its ensemble cast, Abrams' direction, musical score, visual effects, and action sequences, although it received criticism for being derivative of the original trilogy. The film broke various box office records and became, unadjusted for inflation, the highest-grossing installment in the franchise, the highest-grossing film in North America, the highest-grossing film of 2015, and the third-highest-grossing film of all time, with a worldwide gross of over $2 billion and a net profit of over $780 million.[6][7] It received five Academy Award nominations and four British Academy Film Award nominations, where it won the award for Best Special Visual Effects. It was followed by The Last Jedi in December 2017, with a third film scheduled for release in 2019.
Star Wars Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977. It was followed by The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21, 1980; the opening crawl of the sequel disclosed it numbered as "Episode V". Though the first film in the series was simply titled Star Wars, with its 1981 re-release it had the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope added to remain consistent with its sequel, and to establish it as the middle chapter of a continuing saga.[17] Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original trilogy, was numbered as "Episode VI", and released on May 25, 1983. The sequels were all self-financed by Lucasfilm, and generally advertised solely under their subtitles.[14] The plot of the original trilogy centers on the Galactic Civil War of the Rebel Alliance trying to free the galaxy from the clutches of the Galactic Empire, as well as on Luke Skywalker's quest to become a Jedi.