Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Research

Producers - JJ Abrams, Bryan Burk, Kathleen Keenedy.

Production companies - Lucasfilm Ltd., Bad Robot, Truenorth Productions.

Director - JJ Abrams.

Screen writers - JJ Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan.

Actors - Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren).

Budget -  $240, 000, 000.

Locations - Skellig Michael, Iceland, Greenham Common, Derwentwater, Scotland, Abu Dhabi, New Mexico, Pinewood Studios, Puzzlewood, Santa Monica.
Greenlight date - October 20th 2012
Screens shown on - 4134 screens on the opening weekend. Shown on over 4000 screens. It stayed in cinemas for two months.

Critical reaction - Rotten Tomatoes: "packed with action and populated by both familiar faces and fresh blood, The Force Awakens successfully recalls the series' former glory while injecting it with renewed energy". 92%. Metacritic: 48 positive reviews, 4 mixed reviews. 81%.

Box office figures - Worldwide: $129 million gross. US: $247.97 million. China: $33 million.

Music (composer of score/soundtrack) - John Williams
Marketing:

Teaser trailers:

Trailer:

TV spots (there are over 20):

Website - There is a website for the Star Wars saga (starwars.com) that has a section for each episode.

Posters:

UK and US poster

China poster

Tie-in products - Battlefront, Lego Star Wars game, action figures and plushes, 3D models of fighter ships, items for around the house e.g. money boxes, storage boxes, lights and lamps etc., novels and audiobooks, comics, costumes/cosplay, costumes for pets like dogs or cats, casual clothing, stationary, baking decorations, print-outs and posters, card games like Top Trumps, Lego sets.

SFX (special effects - technology used) - special effects: Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Blind, DMG, Kelvin Optical, Base FX, Hybide.... (on IMDb). technology: camera: Arri Alexa (aerial plates). Lenses: IMAX MKII, Hasselblad lenses; IMAX MSM 9802, Hasselblad lenses; Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2, Panavision Primo, Retro C-, E- series, ATZ and AWZ2 lenses.

Any issues - Daisy Ridley nearly had a panic attack on the first day of shooting as she thought her performance wasn't good. John Boyega originally played Finn with his natural English accent, but he and JJ Abrams felt it wasn't right for role, so he put on an American accent. Scenes were chosen to be shot using 65mm IMAX instead of 35mm due to weight and noise problems. Adam Driver didn't like wearing the Kylo Ren mask because his vision was impaired.