By George & Josh Bate
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The start of the Star Wars sequel trilogy marked the beginning of a new era for stories told in a galaxy far, far away, introducing audiences to fan-favorites Rey, Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron, Finn, BB-8, and more.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of J.J. Abrams’ film, we’re breaking down 50 interesting trivia and behind-the-scenes facts from the movie you may not have heard of. Check them all out below….
Did you know? As originally filmed, the dynamic between Rey and Finn was initially antagonistic. Reshoots devised during the break in filming caused by Harrison Ford’s injury infused their relationship with more joy and fun.
Did you know? Early concepts for the film involved Rey and others exploring the wreckage of the Death Star II, including Palpatine’s throne room. This concept was later re-used for The Rise of Skywalker.
Did you know? The Force Awakens is the most profitable Star Wars movie of all time. The movie’s profit is $500.2 million.
Did you know? The flags outside Maz Kanata’s castle include the Mandalorian Mythosaur skull, Ziro the Hutt’s Black Sun tattoo, Hondo Ohnaka’s pirate symbol, several Podracers’ flags, the 501st Legion flag, and more.
Did you know? BB-8 is voiced by Ben Schwartz (Sonic the Hedgehog) and Bill Hader (Barry) in the movie. They are credited as “BB-8 Vocal Consultants.”
Did you know? Poe Dameron was originally set to die at the beginning of the movie. However, J.J. Abrams liked the character and Oscar Isaac’s performance so much he decided to revive Poe later in the film.
Did you know? It was Kathleen Kennedy’s idea to consider Adam Driver to play Kylo Ren.
Did you know? The original script of the film revealed how Maz came into posession of Luke’s lightsaber. More generally, Maz featured more extensively in the film, as evidenced by an image from the first trailer of Maz handing Luke’s lightsaber to Leia.
Did you know? Ava DuVernay suggested that the climactic duel feature a closeup of Daisy Ridley before she lifts her lightsaber and strikes Kylo Ren.
Did you know? As shown in deleted scenes, Leia originally appeared far earlier in the movie in scenes about the politics of the New Republic and the Resistance. This was changed in order to make Leia’s first scene be when she meets Han on Takodana.
Did you know? The Starkiller Base got its name from Luke Starkiller, which was the original name of Luke Skywalker in early drafts of Star Wars. Starkiller is also the last name of Sam Witwer’s character from The Force Unleashed games.
Did you know? The archway in Rey’s village on Jakku was inspired by Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art for Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine.
Did you know? Gary Oldman was considered to play Lor San Tekka, the role that went to Max von Sydow. Oldman was previously cast as the voice of General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith.
Did you know? Kylo’s mask was originally off when they shot the first scene with Supreme Leader Snoke. The mask was digitally added to Adam Driver’s face in post-production so the reveal of Driver’s face could be saved for a more impactful moment later on.
Did you know? David Fincher (Se7en), Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass), and Brad Bird (The Incredibles) were considered to direct the film.
Did you know? Jakku was originally conceived as an ice planet.
Did you know? An early draft of the movie had Finn defect from the First Order after he witnessed a group of Resistance fighters forced out of an airlock aboard a Star Destroyer.
Did you know? Finn’s trooper name – FN-2187 – is a reference to Leia’s cell from the original Star Wars.
Did you know? Kylo Ren’s parentage was originally revealed in the first scene of the movie on Jakku, but J.J. Abrams thought it would be too much information about the character too early in the movie.
Did you know? During production, the film’s working title was Shadow of the Empire. This is the same name as the multimedia project from the 1990s.
Did you know? Oscar Isaac suggested that Poe Dameron be from Yavin as his home country Guatemala was used to film Yavin in the original Star Wars.
Did you know? At one point in development, Kylo Ren was going to be a Darth Vader impersonator, going so far as to wear an exact copy of his grandfather’s suit as a way to antagonize Luke.
Did you know? Captain Phasma’s name comes from the 1979 sci-fi horror classic Phantasm. J.J. Abrams is a big fan of the film, which features a chrome ball that resembles Phasma’s armor.
Did you know? Simon Pegg plays Unkar Plutt.
Did you know? A deleted scene from the movie features Kylo Ren visiting the Millennium Falcon.
Did you know? When filming began, Daisy Ridley’s character was known as Kira. It was a few days into filming that J.J. Abrams decided to change her name to Rey. A variation of Kira, “Q’ira,” was eventually used for the name of Emilia Clarke’s character in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Did you know? The first paragraph of the opening crawl refers to Luke as “The Last Jedi.” This obviously became the title for the film’s sequel.
Did you know? The novelization of the film explains how Rey is familiar with the Millennium Falcon. When she was a girl, she would sneak into the ship and learned to fly it with a simulator that she installed on a computer.
Did you know? Rey’s instantly rising bread was achieved with practical effects, without the use of CGI. Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould and his team accomplished the effect by using a suction pump to remove the liquid and an air pump to inflate the bread.
Did you know? Jessica Henwick (Game of Thrones, Iron Fist) plays X-Wing pilot Jessika Pava in the movie.
Did you know? Mark Hamill took part in the table read for the movie, despite not saying a single line in the script. Hamill ended up reading the directions of the script to his co-stars.
Did you know? James Bond himself Daniel Craig made a cameo appearance as the Stormtrooper who Rey uses a Jedi mind trick on. His nickname on set was FN-007.
Did you know? Michael Arndt’s original draft of the film featured Luke in a prominent role. When Arndt was let go, Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams focused on the female lead and removed Luke from most of the film.
Did you know? Rian Johnson requested Abrams change the ending of the movie by having R2-D2, not BB-8, come to Ahch-To and for Luke to not be floating boulders, as originally intended.
Did you know? Harrison Ford broke his left leg when a hydraulic door of the Millennium Falcon fell down and hit him. Abrams suffered a back injury trying to lift the door off of Ford’s leg.
Did you know? Frank Oz recorded new lines as Yoda to be used in Rey’s Force vision sequence.
Did you know? Supreme Leader Snoke was originally envisioned as a female.
Did you know? An early concept for the iflm had Anakin Skywalker appear as a conflicted Force ghost, fluctuating between light and dark.
Did you know? The original cut of the film was 2 hours and 40 minutes. A reported 20 minutes of the film were axed in the last month prior to the film’s release.
Did you know? Steven Spielberg suggested the trees falling down during the battle between Rey and Kylo at the end of the movie. Spielberg was a big fan of the movie, having watched it four times prior to its theatrical release.
Did you know? Oscar Isaac improvised the, “Who talks first?” line at the beginning of the movie.
Did you know? Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Olsen, Shailene Woodley, Billie Lourd, and Saoirse Ronan were all considered for the role of Rey before Daisy Ridley was cast.
Did you know? Eddie Redmayne was considered for the role of Kylo Ren.
Did you know? Unlike lightsabers in the prequel trilogy, lightsabers in this film were achieved by using props with actual lights that glowed.
Did you know? J.J. Abrams says he regrets that Leia and Chewie walk past one another at the end of the movie, rather than hug following Han’s death.
Did you know? John Williams decided to write the music for The Force Awakens as he did not want anyone else composing the music for Rey, a character he quickly came to love.
Did you know? A full-sized Millennium Falcon model was built for the film.
Did you know? There are several pieces of (likely unintentional) foreshadowing to The Rise of Skywalker in the film. The movie’s poster art looks like Rey is holding a yellow lightsaber, which she eventually wields at the end of Episode IX. Also, some of her lightsaber moves used in battle against Kylo Ren mirror her grandfather Sheev Palpatine’s moves in Revenge of the Sith.
Did you know? Hannah John-Kamen, who plays Ghost in Thunderbolts*, played a First Order officer in The Force Awakens.
