'Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awaken' Release Date and Cast: 100 Day Countdown Begins, Early Showing in The UK, France

By Precy Dumlao
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Star Wars 100 days countdown starts today. Star Wars

The force is stronger in The UK and France!

The Star Wars official Facebook page and Twitter account on Tuesday confirmed that fans in the UK and will be seeing the Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens a day earlier than the U.S. And France, two days earlier

"The Force Awakens will be released in the UK on December 17th. The hundred day countdown starts today!," the Twitter post reads. You can hear millions of Americans suddenly crying out, "What happened!

A report by the The Telegraph, moviegoers in France would be watching the much-anticipated next installment of the Star Wars franchise two days earlier than fans in the U.S. because of a rule that all new movies must be released on a Wednesday. This mean, France will be watching Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens on December 16 while the movie will hit the U.S. theaters on Dec. 18th.

The production has kept all details of the new Star Wars very close to their hearts, but there were speculations Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens will pick up 30 years after the 1883 release of the Return of the Jedi.

The original cast members of the first Star Wars trilogy Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill will reprise their roles in The Force Awakens newcomers John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac.

The movie is expected to deliver huge numbers at the box office with early predictions to its opening weekend pegged at $615 million.

Benidio de Toro to Play Grand Admiral Thrawn in Star Wars Episode VIII

Even before Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens hits the screen, Benicio del Toro has announced he would be playing the villain named Grand Admiral Thrawn. However, Lucasfilm has not yet officially announced del Toro's appearance in the next chapter of Star Wars, one of the most popular sci-fi series ever released.

According to What Culture, there are still very few details about the next iteration of the new Star Wars trilogy but said that "Grand Admiral Thrawn (Mitth'raw'nuruodo to his friends) was the chief antagonist of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy (Heir To The Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command), three of the most highly revered Star Wars books ever written."

The report added, "Set about ten years after Return Of The Jedi, they chart the attempts by Luke, Han, Leia and co. to build the New Republic in the face of the threat of the Imperial Remnant, led by Thrawn, who assumed the role of Grand Admiral after Palpatine's death."

It described Grand Admiral Thrawn as "A cold and calculated tactician, Thrawn felt unique amongst the cowering and sniveling Imperials that littered throughout the Original Trilogy, the natural sort of threat to rise from the Empire's ashes. Thanks to the quality of his novels, and in particular Zahn's writing of their villain, he's become a firm fan favorite, long hoped to make the leap from print to the big screen."

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