20 facts you might not know about 'The Force Awakens'

When Lucas was originally coming up with the ideas for the Star Wars franchise, he had an idea for a sequel trilogy. However, he got burnt out on Star Wars and said he would never do it. He was interested enough in his prequel ideas to do that trilogy, but he remained steadfast about not doing any more sequels. When he sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, and new movies were announced, Lucas explained in a YouTube video, “I always said I wasn't going to do any more and that's true, because I'm not going to do any more, but that doesn't mean I'm unwilling to turn it over to Kathy (Kennedy) to do more.”

A few different notable directors were thought of to open the new trilogy of films that had been announced. Some of the names include David Fincher, Brad Bird, Jon Favreau, and Guillermo del Toro. However, a suggestion from the influential Steven Spielberg for his protégé J.J. Abrams got him the gig.

Michael Arndt was hired to write the screenplay for The Force Awakens. He provided some real cache, having won an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine and having been nominated for Toy Story 3. Things didn’t work out ideally, though. After having worked on the script for eight months, Arndt asked for another 18 months to work on the script. Simply put, this did not work for the movie’s time frame, and Arndt left the project. He does share screenwriting credit, though.

After Arndt left the project, Abrams took a crack at the script, and he brought in a ringer to help. That would be Lawrence Kasdan, who has screenwriting credit on both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

In addition to trying to bring in some name actors, open auditions were held for The Force Awakens. However, the folks at Disney and Lucasfilm were not exactly open about anything but the auditions. Needless to say actors weren’t seeing much, if anything, from the script, and they all had to sign strict non-disclosure agreements. In fact, they were also told they were auditioning for the parts of “Rachel” and “Thomas.” There are no characters with those names in the film.

A lot of actors of note also tried out for The Force Awakens, though they weren’t all famous at the time. For example, Tom Holland tried out for Finn before he ever donned the Spider-Man suit. Eddie Redmayne auditioned to play Kylo Ren. Meanwhile, Jesse Plemons, Saoirse Ronan, and Michael B. Jordan all tried out for unknown roles.

Adam Driver auditioned for the movie, but there was a snag. Namely, the schedule for the TV show Girls. Clearly, they wanted him, though, and they were able to work around the schedule of Girls so that Driver could play Kylo Ren. Meanwhile, John Boyega was able to be in the film after he dropped out of the forgotten Jesse Owens biopic Race.

Boyega apparently needed some real proof before he could get too excited about being cast as Finn. In fact, it was not until Boyega’s cast photo was posted on the Star Wars Twitter account that he even told his parents that he had been cast.

Several cast members from the original trilogy returned. That includes Daniels, who played C-3PO in not only the original trilogy but also the prequels. Abrams gave him the opportunity to just provide the voice, but Daniels asked to be in the suit. A new costume was built so that Daniels could once again embody C-3PO.

Not everybody is dying to be in a Star Wars film. Denis Lawson, who played Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy, was asked to return. Instead of jumping at the chance, Lawson turned it down, saying the idea “bored” him.

Not everybody is Denis Lawson. Music producer Nigel Godrich, composer Michael Giacchino, and some guy named Daniel Craig all appeared as stormtroopers. Additionally, Judah Friedlander, Kevin Smith, and Abrams’ father, Gerald, all had roles.

Fisher came from an acting lineage, as she is the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. Apparently, it runs in the family. Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, is an actor now as well, and she got the role of Connix in The Force Awakens.

The longtime TV talk show host had Abrams as a guest on his show when Abrams was working on the movie. Conan requested that Abrams work the line “Jub jub” into the script. This is a random non-sequitur that O’Brien has said for years, even getting it used as the name of Selma’s iguana on The Simpsons. Indeed, Abrams made it happen. “Jub jub” is said by the character Teedo when he’s on his luggabeast. You know, maybe “Jub jub” fits right into the Star Wars universe.

Luke Skywalker serves as something of a McGuffin in The Force Awakens. That wasn’t always going to be the case. When Arndt was working on his early drafts, Luke was going to show up midway through, like Han Solo. However, Arndt had trouble concocting a script that didn’t then focus on Luke. Thus, he was removed from the equation and pushed to the end.

Ford has never been all that enthusiastic about playing Solo, having even asked to be killed off in the original trilogy. He may have been feeling regret about returning while shooting this movie. A hydraulic door fell on his leg and broke it. This led to the filming of the movie being paused for two weeks.

John Williams once again returned to compose the score for yet another Star Wars movie, as it should be. He wasn’t the only one involved with the music, though. Abrams met Lin-Manuel Miranda while Miranda was doing Hamilton in Broadway, and Miranda jokingly said he would do music for a cantina scene if needed. Funnily enough, Williams had said he didn’t want to compose music for the cantina scene in The Force Awakens, so he could focus on the score. Abrams reached out to Miranda, and he did indeed do the music for the cantina scene.

Lucasfilm had been sold to Disney, but Disney did not put its branding all over The Force Awakens. The movie opens with the Lucasfilm logo being shown silently, before the main titles of the movie burst onto the screen in classic Star Wars style. Disney chairman Bob Iger said this decision to stick with tradition was done “for the fans.”

It had already been announced that Johnson would be writing and directing the next film in the new trilogy, The Last Jedi. When Johnson read the script, to prep to write his own screenplay, he made a few suggestions to Abrams. Abrams used them, saying they made the film better, in addition to easing the storytelling transition from one film to the next. For example, he swapped R2-D2 in for BB-8 when Rey goes to find Luke, and didn’t show Luke using the force at the end of the film.

The Force Awakens made $119.1 million in the United States and Canada on its opening day. That broke the opening-day and single-day box-office records. All in all, it broke $2 billion worldwide. It was the third film ever to do that, and it remains the fourth-highest-grossing movie ever.

In addition to making a ton of cash, the Academy gave The Force Awakens some love. It received five Oscar nominations, all in technical categories. The nominations were for Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Film Editing. It didn’t win any of them.