The last decade of Star Wars—hell, even the last half-decade—has been an eventful one. It may be 12 years since Disney first bought Lucasfilm, but we’re still feeling the aftershock of that acquisition in different ways. And it all started with Thanksgiving weekend and the first-ever reveal of Star Wars: The Force Awakens to the general public.
Disney released Force Awakens’ original trailer on November 28, 2014, initially across select theaters in the US and Canada, and then expanded its reach that December. At 88 seconds long, it was the textbook definition of a teaser, with glimpses of its main characters heading somewhere we weren’t exactly privvy to contrasted by stretches of black screen. Is that a ball droid, who’s the Stormtrooper, is that Andy Serkis, why the heck is there a crossguard lightsaber? These were all questions that rushed to the forefront of social media, followed shortly by: what is this about?
While the 2008 Clone Wars movie was the last actual Star Wars feature to hit theaters, there hadn’t been a live-action film since 2005. In general, the entire franchise was in a weird spot at the time: Star Wars Rebels’ first season had just gone on holiday break, the Expanded Universe got declared non-canon months earlier, and it’d been a year since the Star Wars 1313 game was cancelled. This trailer was the launch point of a massive fresh start for everyone, and it paid off big time. A week after launch, it had 58.2 million views, and outlets commended it for evoking the feel of the original trilogies. Luke, Leia, and Han were nowhere to be seen, but the brief visuals and John Williams’ score did their job in making you think of what Star Wars had been at its best, and that it could fall in that same territory.
Say what you want about Disney’s ownership of Star Wars, the studio knows how to promote it. This was true then with Force Awakens, and it’s become even more true a decade later as it’s snatched up more properties and found more ways to promote them. When it’s got something on its hands that it has faith in, Disney will move heaven and earth to ensure you know it exists, whether you want to or not. This trailer did the trick; people fully realized it at the time, but they did ultimately miss Star Wars and what it brought to the table. Disney understood that, hence this and subequent trailers doing their best to sell Awakens as the return of Star Wars first and a film second. Think back to how hard the marketing worked to sell the allure of new characters and worlds with the tease of continuing the stories of the original characters, bringing back the music, and the “Chewie, we’re home” that’ll always feel like it was specifically written for applause in theaters.
All trailers are events unto themselves, particularly when it comes to movies and video games. Things have only become bigger and bigger over the years, and nowadays, trailers are treated more like the second coming, much of which you can put on Force Awakens’ first teaser. Can they still do that now? Ask us again in about, hrm…three-to-five years?
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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