Disney and Lucasfilm have announced that they will count down to the hotly-anticipated release of the seventh chapter of the Star Wars Saga with a publishing initiative entitled Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which will include at least 20 “in canon” books, ranging from adult and teen novels to kid’s sticker books.
“The Force Awakens is an extraordinarily, heavily guarded storyline. To track it, a lot of top-secret meetings were happening up in San Francisco as we worked through this program,” says Andrew Sugerman, executive vice president of Disney Publishing Worldwide. “The partnership with the story group and the editorial team always had to be true to the sanctity of the film while making sure that we find these moments to introduce hints, clues, and puzzle pieces. Without revealing what those pieces are, it will just allow readers to speculate about the new film: What could a location mean, or what could a character mean?”
Many of the books are being kept under wraps at present, but Entertainment Weekly has revealed that titles will include Del Rey’s Star Wars: Aftermath, a Marvel prequel comic entitled Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens., and a series of YA novels designed to introduce the likes of Luke, Leia and Han to younger fans of the saga who may be unfamiliar with the Original Trilogy.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set for release on December 18th and also sees returning stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) joined by Adam Driver (Girls), Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year), Andy Serkis (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Silent Witness), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Miltos Yerolemou (Game of Thrones), Max von Sydow (The Exorcist), Jessica Henwick (Spirit Warriors), Christina Chong (24: Live Another Day) and newcomers Crystal Clarke and Pip Andersen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONsp_bmDYXc&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&feature=player_embedded
Originally published March 10, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
