Star Wars is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various films and other media, including television series, video games, novels, comic books, theme park attractions, and themed areas, comprising an all-encompassing fictional universe. Star Wars is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company, founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971 in San Rafael, California; most of the company's operations were moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, as well as its leadership in developing special effects, sound, and computer animation for films.
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a 1996 multimedia project created by Lucasfilm. The idea was to create a story set between the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and to explore all commercial possibilities of a full motion picture release without actually making a film. The venture was intended to reinvigorate interest in the franchise ahead of the theatrical Special Editions of the Star Wars trilogy released the following year.
Star Wars comics have been produced by various comic book publishers since the debut of the 1977 film Star Wars. Marvel Comics launched its original series in 1977, beginning with a six-issue comic adaptation of the film and running for 107 issues, including an adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back. Marvel also released an adaptation of Return of the Jedi and spin-offs based on Droids and Ewoks. A self-titled comic strip ran in American newspapers between 1979 and 1984. Blackthorne Publishing released a three-issue run of 3-D comics from 1987 to 1988.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a 2015 American epic space opera film produced, co-written, and directed by J. J. Abrams. The sequel to Return of the Jedi (1983), it is the seventh film in the "Skywalker Saga". Set thirty years after Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens follows Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and Han Solo's search for Luke Skywalker and their fight in the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa and veterans of the Rebel Alliance, against Kylo Ren and the First Order, a successor to the Galactic Empire. The ensemble cast includes Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Max von Sydow.
Star Wars Day is an informal commemorative day observed annually on May 4 to celebrate the Star Wars media franchise created by filmmaker George Lucas. Observance of the day spread quickly through media and grassroots celebrations since the franchise began in 1977.
Star Wars has been expanded to media other than the original films. This spin-off material is licensed and moderated by Lucasfilm, though during his involvement with the franchise Star Wars creator George Lucas reserved the right to both draw from and contradict it in his own works. Such derivative works have been produced concurrently with, between, and after the original, prequel, and sequel trilogies, as well as the spin-off films and television series. Commonly explored Star Wars media include books, comic books, and video games, though other forms such as audio dramas have also been produced.
Chewbacca, nicknamed "Chewie", is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is a Wookiee, a tall, hirsute, bipedal, intelligent species originating from the fictional planet of Kashyyyk. Chewbacca is the loyal friend and first mate of Han Solo, and serves as co-pilot on Solo's spaceship, the Millennium Falcon; together they help the Rebel Alliance defeat the Galactic Empire and restore freedom to the galaxy.
BB-8 is a droid character in the Star Wars franchise. He appeared in the three films of the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He also appeared as a major supporting character in the animated series Star Wars Resistance, appearing in the first 17 episodes of season 1. He is a BB astromech droid serving the Resistance, and is owned by Poe Dameron. Spherical with a free-moving domed head, BB-8 is portrayed by both a rod puppet and a remote-controlled robotic unit. The character has been well received by critics and fans, and has become one of the most beloved and recognizable characters of the Star Wars saga in recent years.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is a themed area inspired by the Star Wars franchise, located in Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. It encompasses 14 acres (5.7 ha) at each park, and is set in the village of Black Spire Outpost, on the remote frontier planet of Batuu, featuring attractions, shops, restaurants and entertainment.
Supreme Leader Snoke is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was created by J. J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, and Michael Arndt for the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in which he is introduced as the Supreme Leader of the First Order, a military junta formed from the fallen Galactic Empire. In the films, Snoke is a CGI character voiced and performed by Andy Serkis via motion capture.
Maz Kanata is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, she is a computer-generated character voiced and performed through motion capture by Lupita Nyong'o. Maz, a former pirate and smuggler, is more than 1,000 years old and manages an interstellar tavern in a castle on the fictional planet Takodana. While Maz's small role in the trilogy has been criticized, Nyong'o's performance and the technical aspects of the character have been praised by critics. For her performance in The Force Awakens, Nyong'o was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Lego Star Wars: The Resistance Rises is a five-episode Lego Star Wars short form computer animated series that debuted on Disney XD on February 15, 2016. A comedic prequel to the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it focuses on the exploits of Star Wars characters from that film, as well as legacy characters.
Star Wars: Resistance Reborn is a Star Wars novel by Rebecca Roanhorse, published by Del Rey Books on November 5, 2019. Set between the events of the 2017 film Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the 2019 film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the follows the exploits of General Leia Organa, Poe Dameron, Rey, and Finn as they try to rebuild the Resistance following the destruction of Starkiller Base, their devastating escape from D'Qar, the defeat to the First Order at the Battle of Crait, and the deaths of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.
Battlefront II: Inferno Squad is a novel that is set in the Star Wars Universe and written by Christie Golden. The novel was published in 2017 by Del Rey Books. The story takes place immediately after the events of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). Inferno Squad is the second book in the Star Wars: Battlefront Tie-In novel book series, following Battlefront: Twilight Company. The novel follows Iden Versio, protagonist of the Star Wars Battlefront II single-player campaign. The book focuses on Inferno Squad's creation and its early missions.
Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge is a virtual reality first-person shooter game originally released on November 19, 2020 for the Oculus Quest systems. The graphics were designed by ILMxLab.
Star Wars: Visions is an animated anthology series created for the American streaming service Disney+. Produced by Lucasfilm, the series consists of original animated short films set in, or inspired by, the Star Wars universe, with each episode being a self-contained narrative produced by a non-American studio.
Maggie Simpson in "The Force Awakens from Its Nap" is an animated short film based on the television series The Simpsons. The short was released on May 4, 2021, on Disney+ in celebration of Star Wars Day.
