While the seventh installment to the “Star Wars” saga is a little over five months away from its worldwide showing on December 18, financial analysts are already predicting that the movie will join the prestigious and elite billion dollar club.
Benjamin Swinburne, analyst for Morgan Stanley, projects that “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will earn at least $1.03 billion in profit against a gross of about $1.67 billion, which shall make it the third highest grossing movie of all time next only to “Avatar” at No. 1 with $2.79 billion and “Titanic” with $2.19 billion, details Design N Trend.
Disney Pictures will reportedly shell out about $423 million to produce and market the film in addition to other expense and thus netting revenue of $1.03 billion.
Directed by JJ Abrams, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is a blend of the old and the new and it basically takes off from the events after “Star Wars” Episode 6 titled “Return of the Jedi” shown way back in 1983. It is also the first “Star Wars” film not directed by the critically-acclaimed director, writer and producer George Lucas following his sale of Lucas Films to Disney Pictures in 2012 for a staggering $4.05 billion.
In a recent interview, 48-year-old Abrams said that he believes that there is hardly any movie since 1977 which has embraced a mythic quality, aesthetic, and humorous approach to space adventure as “Star Wars” does.
He disclosed that while he was tempted at some point to deviate from the original aura of the film, he believed that doing so would make it an anti-“Star Wars” movie so he maintained most of the elements of the film because he knows that fans are certain that they really want to see something familiar when they watch the film.
Abrams said that he realized eventually that it was all about point of view so it is not just the elements in the movie that are important but also the person or persons being thrown into that experience and journey and how it matters to him or them.
New character
While JJ Abrams has yet to confirm the report, a source from the production disclosed that veteran TV and movie actor Ken Leung will be joining the cast of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” as a high-ranking official of the Resistance, which is now the term for the Rebel Alliance, notes Cinema Blend.
The same source revealed that Leung was only in the set for a few days so he will just be playing a bit part but he will have a high position in the Resistance as he was reportedly seen wearing a military uniform with a khaki hue and a red-orange belt.
It appears that he will be one of the good guys but unless he is merely a villain in disguise like being a member of the First Order, it is not clear what Leung’s character will be doing in the movie.
The appearance of Leung on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has the approval of JJ Abrams as well as they have previously worked together on the TV series “Lost” which the director, created and produced, as well as in “Person of Interest” where he and Bad Robot are involved.