Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens

Around 30 years after the destruction of the second Death Star, Luke Skywalker, the last known Jedi Master still alive, has gone missing. The First Order, a group that came after the Galactic Empire fell, and the Resistance, a military group supported by the New Republic and led by Luke's sister, General Leia Organa, are searching the galaxy to find him.

Leia sends Poe Dameron, a pilot from the Resistance, on a secret mission to Tuanul, a village on the desert planet of Jakku. He's supposed to meet Lor San Tekka, an elder from the village, who has a map showing where Luke Skywalker is. While they're meeting, stormtroopers from the First Order, led by Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma, attack the village. Poe and his astromech droid, BB-8, try to get away in their T-70 X-wing starfighter, but some stormtroopers use their blasters to break the engines. Poe can't think of anything else to do, so he gives the map to BB-8 and tells the BB unit to run. Poe stays behind to help BB-8 escape.

After FN-2187, a stormtrooper, is sent out, FN-2003 gets shot by Poe. FN-2187 goes to help his friend, but FN-2003 is dying. Right before he dies, FN-2003 gets blood on FN-2187's helmet, which really affects FN-2187. After they take control of the area, the villagers who are still alive are gathered in the town square. Tekka is captured and brought to Kylo Ren, who wants to know where the map to Luke is. Tekka says he knows who Ren used to be and tells Ren he can't run from who he really is. Ren gets impatient and kills Tekka with his lightsaber.

Poe tries to shoot Ren from where he's hiding, but Ren easily stops the blaster shot in the air using the Force. Poe is captured, and Ren decides to question him more on their ship. Before they leave, Phasma asks what to do with the villagers they captured, and Ren tells her to kill them all. Stormtrooper FN-2187 is shocked as he watches the massacre, standing still and not firing his weapon.

Back on the Finalizer, a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer, FN-2187 feels very emotional because his friend died and the villagers were killed. He goes into an empty shuttle to take off his helmet and breathe, but Phasma sees him and tells him to bring his blaster in for inspection because she noticed he didn't shoot. He knows he'll be punished and checked again for not shooting the villagers, and he's starting to lose faith in the First Order, so he decides to leave. Meanwhile, Ren tries to torture Poe to get information about where Luke Skywalker is, but it doesn't work. So, Ren uses his Force power of mind probe to get the information from Poe's mind. Ren finds out that the map is inside a BB series droid that ran away from the village and tells General Armitage Hux about it.

On Jakku, Rey, a scavenger, walks through the remains of a Imperial-class Star Destroyer at the Graveyard of Giants. While scavenging through the Star Destroyer, she finds something valuable and puts it in her bag. Rey goes to Niima Outpost and carries the bag of salvage through the town. Then, she goes to Unkar Plutt to trade her scraps for foodstuff, and he offers her a small amount for her salvage. After taking the food, Rey goes to her home, a broken AT-AT, and makes herself a meal. After she's done eating, she watches a starship leave the planet and then hears a sound far away. She grabs her quarterstaff and runs to see what it is.

She finds BB-8 being captured by Teedo, a humanoid green-skinned scavenger. She helps the droid and tells it how to get to Niima Outpost, but BB-8 wants to stay with her. Rey goes back to Unkar Plutt to trade her salvage for food, and the Crolute offers to buy BB-8 for a lot of food. Rey is tempted, but she says no. Plutt then sends two thugs to steal BB-8.

FN-2187 needs a pilot to escape, so he frees Poe Dameron from his cell. They steal a TIE/sf fighter. FN-2187 uses the guns to kill some of his former friends in the hangar and then breaks the Finalizer's turbolasers on the outside of the ship. While they're escaping, Dameron asks the stormtrooper his name. The stormtrooper says he was raised to be a stormtrooper, and the only name he's ever had is "FN-2187". Dameron doesn't want to call a man a number, so he calls the trooper "Finn", from the FN in his name. Finn likes the name and starts using it. Dameron also tells him that the map the Resistance needs is inside his astromech droid. Before they can keep talking and escape, the TIE is hit by a missile from the Finalizer and starts crashing towards the planet below.

Phasma tells Hux that this is the first time FN-2187 has done something wrong. A technician then tells Hux that the TIE fighter is going to crash in Goazon Badlands, a canyon area on Jakku. Hux realizes that Poe and Finn are going after BB-8, so he sends out search teams to the area.

Finn and Dameron jump out of the TIE right before it crashes, landing far away from each other. Finn goes to the crash site and finds Poe's jacket, but he doesn't see Poe. The fighter sinks into the sand. Finn thinks Dameron is dead, so he starts walking through the desert, throwing away his stormtrooper armor. He finally gets to the nearest settlement, wanting water.

Finn is trying to get water from a trough when he sees thugs trying to steal a BB unit droid, which Finn knows is BB-8, from a woman named Rey. She fights them off with her staff. BB-8 sees Finn wearing Dameron's jacket, and Rey chases after him. Rey attacks Finn because she thinks he's a thief. Finn says he met Poe and helped him escape the Star Destroyer, but Dameron died in the crash. The First Order finds Finn in the settlement and starts an airstrike to find BB-8 and the map. Rey, Finn, and BB-8 try to escape in a Quadjumper, but TIE/fo fighters destroy it. The only thing they can do is escape in the Millennium Falcon. Rey flies it through the Graveyard of Giants, while Finn shoots at and destroys the TIE fighters that are chasing them. After the TIE fighters are destroyed, they escape into space.

Back on the Finalizer, Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka tells Kylo Ren that the droid escaped on a stolen freighter and that FN-2187, the deserter, helped it. Ren turns on his lightsaber and gets angry, hitting an instrument panel. Mitaka tells Ren that a local scavenger girl also helped them. Kylo gets even angrier and uses the Force to pull the officer across the room by his throat, choking him and asking what girl it was.

Finn and Rey are happy they escaped Jakku, but the Millennium Falcon breaks down. The ship needs a lot of repairs, so Finn, Rey, and BB-8 start fixing it. While they're working, the ship is caught in a tractor beam by a freighter. They think they've been captured by the First Order, but they soon meet the people who really captured them: Han Solo and Chewbacca, the ship's former owners. Han and Chewie board their old ship and start checking it out. They find Rey and Finn, who he thinks stole the Falcon. Rey and Finn say they were taking a droid named BB-8 to the Resistance because it has a map that shows where Luke is. Han and Chewie agree to help them.

Han's freighter, the Eravana, is boarded by two criminal groups, the Guavian Death Gang and Kanjiklub. They want Solo to pay them back. Han doesn't want Rey and Finn to get involved, so he hides them in the lower parts of the freighter while he and Chewie go to meet the criminals, with BB-8. Han tries to convince them that he'll pay them back, but the Guavian Death Gang negotiator, Bala-Tik, sees the BB-8 astromech droid and knows the First Order is offering a reward for it. They want Han to give them the droid and anyone else hiding on board. While they're arguing, Rey accidentally lets out three rathtars. The rathtars distract everyone so Han and Chewie can escape, but one catches Finn and drags him around the freighter. Rey finds a control panel and closes a door on the rathtar, freeing Finn. The two join Han and Chewie, and they jump to hyperspace in the Falcon. Bala-Tik tells his men to let the First Order know that Han Solo and the BB unit are on the ship.

At Starkiller Base, a planet that has been turned into a superweapon that uses the energy of a star to destroy star systems, Kylo Ren and General Hux are called by Supreme Leader Snoke, who appears as a big hologram. Hux wants to use the Starkiller superweapon to destroy the New Republic and the Resistance, and Snoke lets him do it. Snoke tells Ren that the astromech droid with the map is now on the Millennium Falcon - with his father, Han Solo. Ren says his father doesn't mean anything to him, and with Snoke's training, he won't be tempted to the light side of the Force.

While they're in hyperspace, the Falcon has a problem with its hyperdrive, but Rey shows how much she knows about ships by fixing it. Meanwhile, Finn tries to bandage Chewie's arm, which was hurt in the fight on the Eravana. After they fix the ship, Han asks Finn and Rey why they're running away. Rey says the First Order wants the map inside BB-8 and that Finn is with the Resistance.

After BB-8 shows a projection of the map, Han says that after Luke disappeared, many people went looking for him. Luke had tried to rebuild the Jedi Order, but one of his students turned to the dark side, destroying everything Luke had built and killing the other padawans Luke had trained. Luke felt responsible and blamed himself, so he went into exile. Han also says he heard that Luke went looking for the first Jedi Temple.

Solo says he found the Millennium Falcon quickly because he and Chewbacca were scanning for its signature. That's also why the criminal gangs found it so quickly, and it means the First Order can find it too. To get BB-8 to the Resistance, they need to switch to a different ship, which Han says he can get from an old friend.

Solo takes Rey, Finn, and BB-8 to the planet Takodana to meet Maz Kanata at her castle. Han says she's had her castle for over a thousand years, and she runs a busy cantina there. People from different sides see the group. GA-97 tells the Resistance that the BB unit has been found, and Bazine Netal tells the First Order the same thing.

Kylo Ren is trying to get advice from his grandfather, Darth Vader, so he sits quietly in his meditation chamber. In front of him is Vader's burned helmet, which was taken from the funeral pyre on Endor. Kylo feels conflicted because his father has come back and Snoke wants him to kill him. He tells Vader's helmet that the light is pulling him in again and that Snoke can feel it. He asks his grandfather to show him the power of the darkness again, to pull him back to the dark side of the Force and help him overcome his future challenges.

Han and Chewie talk to Maz. Finn makes a deal with Sidon Ithano and his first mate Quiggold to work for them if they'll fly him to the Outer Rim. Rey asks Finn not to leave and to help her find the Resistance. But Finn wants to leave and says there's no way to beat the First Order. He also says he lied about being in the Resistance. He says he was a stormtrooper in the First Order and deserted after his first battle because he didn't want to kill unarmed villagers for the First Order.

After Finn leaves, Rey hears a young girl screaming. She follows the screams and goes into a chamber with relics from the past. The Force calls her to Maz's curio box, an old chest made of Wroshyr wood. Inside, she finds the lightsaber that used to belong to Anakin Skywalker and his son Luke.

When she touches the lightsaber, she has a series of visions. Rey sees Cloud City and Luke fighting Darth Vader. She sees Luke putting his metal hand on R2-D2 near a fire, which is probably Luke's burning Jedi temple. Then, she's lying on the ground in the rain at night. There are dead bodies around the Knights of Ren, who killed them. Kylo Ren sees her and comes toward her. Before he gets to her, she sees herself as a child yelling at her parents to stay on Jakku. When her parents were leaving Jakku, Unkar Plutt told her to be quiet. Next, she sees Ren chasing her in a snowy forest, in the future. Rey pulls herself out of the vision, terrified. After the vision, she finds Kanata standing outside the room. Kanata tells her about the lightsaber's history and that it was calling to her. Kanata says she's Force-sensitive, but she was never a Jedi. She can close her eyes and feel the light of the Force inside her, and she knows Rey can do it too. Rey is scared by her vision and runs into the woods with BB-8.

Following Supreme Leader Snoke's authorization to activate the Starkiller superweapon, Hux makes the decision to target the Hosnian system, the location of the New Republic's capital, Hosnian Prime, and the New Republic Defense Fleet. His goal is to showcase the First Order's might by eradicating the New Republic's "illegitimate" government in a single, devastating blow. The test proves successful, resulting in the annihilation of Hosnian Prime, the current elected home of the Galactic Senate, all celestial bodies within the system, and an unquantified portion of the New Republic fleet, all at the hands of the First Order's superweapon. This catastrophic event is witnessed from the surface of Takodana. Overwhelmed by the destruction, Finn reconsiders his decision to desert.

Alerted to BB-8's whereabouts, the First Order descends upon Maz Kanata's castle, initiating an assault with TIE fighters and Atmospheric Assault Landers. The castle is quickly overwhelmed and demolished, leading to numerous fatalities among its inhabitants. Maz entrusts Luke's old lightsaber to Finn for safekeeping, explaining to Han that she lacks the time to detail its acquisition. BB-8 accompanies Rey as she flees into the surrounding woods, hindering the First Order's initial attempts to locate the droid. However, a stormtrooper officer soon informs Kylo Ren of the astromech's sighting in the company of a young woman.

Amidst the castle's defense, Finn brandishes the lightsaber, eliminating one stormtrooper before being subdued by FN-2199, a former comrade. Han intervenes at the last moment, employing Chewbacca's bowcaster to neutralize FN-2199, narrowly saving Finn's life. Han and Chewbacca also dispatch several stormtroopers, but are ultimately captured alongside Finn by the First Order. The tide turns with the arrival of Resistance T-70 X-wings, led by Poe Dameron, who is revealed to be alive. A fierce aerial battle erupts, resulting in the destruction of numerous First Order TIE fighters and the deaths of many stormtroopers due to X-wing attacks.

In the woods, Rey encounters Kylo Ren, who uses the Force to restrain her after she fires her blaster pistol. Delving into her mind, he discovers her knowledge of the map he seeks, prompting him to order a First Order withdrawal, stating that they have obtained their objective and no longer require BB-8. As the battle intensifies above the castle, the remaining First Order troops retreat, while Han witnesses his son carrying an unconscious Rey away. The Resistance emerges victorious, liberating Finn, Han, and Chewbacca. Han and Leia are reunited, and Han reveals to Leia that he saw their son.

Han, Chewbacca, and Finn are transported to the Resistance base situated on D'Qar. BB-8 encounters the astromech droid R2-D2, who, according to C-3PO, has remained inactive since Luke's disappearance. With the recovered map projected as a hologram, 3PO reveals its incompleteness and its lack of correspondence with any known charted system. Han and Leia are revealed to be aware of their son's identity as Kylo Ren and that his descent into the dark side, despite Luke's attempts to guide him, led to their separation. Han resumed his smuggling activities, while Leia spearheaded the Resistance.

Upon pinpointing the Resistance base's location, Starkiller initiates the process of draining the sun's energy to destroy D'Qar. Simultaneously, the Resistance devises a counterattack. Finn provides them with the Starkiller's schematics, revealing its reliance on a thermal oscillator to sustain the energy required to charge its primary weapon. Destroying the thermal oscillator would destabilize the planet's core, causing the base to implode. However, this action must be completed before the First Order can fully charge the Starkiller weapon and obliterate D'Qar. Finn, Han, and Chewie volunteer to infiltrate the base and disable its defensive shield. Before departing for Starkiller Base, Han and Leia share an embrace, with Leia imploring Han to bring their son home.

Rey is taken to Starkiller Base, where Kylo Ren interrogates her for information regarding the map leading to Luke Skywalker. Ren removes his helmet, revealing his face. Initially, Ren penetrates Rey's mind, glimpsing an island surrounded by water. However, he struggles to maintain control, and Rey manages to push back into his mind. After a mental clash, Rey declares that she senses fear within him – fear that he will never attain the power of Darth Vader. Humiliated, Kylo abruptly leaves the room to consult with Snoke.

Left alone and reflecting on the recent events, Rey realizes the truth of Kanata's words: she is indeed Force-sensitive. She attempts to use a Jedi mind trick on her stormtrooper guard, instructing him to release her and leave the door open. Her first attempt fails, but she persists. The guard initially resists, stating his intention to tighten her restraints. Focusing her will, Rey tries one last time, and the stormtrooper complies with her demands. She quickly instructs him to drop his blaster before departing, allowing her to arm herself. Rey navigates Starkiller Base, refining her Force abilities while employing stealth. Drawing upon her experience navigating wrecked Imperial starships, she traverses the depths of the installation's machinery. Meanwhile, Kylo informs Snoke that Rey possesses a strong connection to the Force but lacks training, prompting Snoke to order Kylo to bring Rey before him. Upon discovering Rey's escape, Kylo unleashes another fit of rage, slashing at her empty restraint chair.

Han Solo pilots the Millennium Falcon to Starkiller Base, accompanied by Chewbacca and Finn, whose primary objective is to rescue Rey. Exploiting the Starkiller's shields' fractional refresh rate, Han pilots through the shields at lightspeed, resulting in a rough landing at the edge of a cliff. Han, Chewbacca, and Finn infiltrate the main base and capture Captain Phasma, forcing her to disable the shields before disposing of her in a garbage chute. They reunite with Rey, who had already escaped. With the shields deactivated, Blue Squadron and Red Squadron, led by Black Leader Poe Dameron, initiate their assault, targeting the Starkiller's hexagonal oscillator structure. Their initial attempts fail as the First Order launches a counterattack with TIE fighters, plunging the Resistance into chaos.

In response, Han, Chewbacca, Finn, and Rey attempt to create an opening by planting thermal detonators inside the base. Sensing his father's presence, Kylo confronts Han, addressing him by his birth name, "Ben." They meet on a bridge overlooking a vast chasm, where Han implores his son to reject Snoke and return to the light side of the Force. Ben, removing his mask and appearing regretful and frightened, extends his lightsaber to Solo, seeking his father's help. Han assures him of his unwavering support, but as he reaches for the lightsaber, Ben resists. Ben manipulates the hilt, igniting the weapon through Han's chest. Witnessed by Rey, Finn, and Chewbacca, Han caresses his son's face one last time before succumbing to his death. Enraged, Chewbacca, Rey, and Finn open fire on Ren and the stormtroopers. Back on D'Qar, Leia collapses, overwhelmed by Han's death through the Force, fighting back tears. Chewbacca wounds Ren with his bowcaster, but Ren pursues them out of the base, catching up to Finn and Rey in the forest.

Rey denounces Ren as a monster and shoots him with her blaster, but Ren Force pushes her into a tree, knocking her unconscious. Finn rushes to her aid. Ren accuses Finn of being a traitor. Finn ignites Luke's old lightsaber and attacks him. Ren, already wounded by the bowcaster, proves too strong for Finn. Finn manages to wound him, but Ren quickly overpowers him and deals him a grievous injury to his back. Ren attempts to use telekinesis to retrieve his grandfather's lightsaber, but it resists his pull and instead flies to Rey, who has regained consciousness.

During this time, Chewie activates the thermal detonators, allowing Poe to lead a squadron of X-wings into the Starkiller Base trenches. Poe finds an opening in the thermal oscillator and enters, while a following TIE crashes. Inside, Poe fires torpedoes, destroying the Starkiller's thermal oscillator thirty seconds before it finishes draining the sun. A chain reaction destroys the base and levels the entire planet's terrain.

Rey and Ren continue fighting. Ren, drawing on his rage to ignore the pain, has the advantage. Ren tries to tempt Rey, complimenting her strength with the Force and offering to complete her training if she joins him. This backfires, as it reassures Rey of her own power, and she begins to draw on the Force to hone her attacks. Rey overpowers Ren and deals him a severe wound to his face while severing his lightsaber. Kylo struggles in vain to rise again. Before Rey can finish him off, a trench forms between them.

Rey returns to Finn, despairing that Finn is not waking up and that they are trapped. Chewbacca arrives with the Millennium Falcon to rescue them. Inside the main base, chaos reigns as General Hux has already fled, and the other officers rush to abandon the installation. Hux reports to Snoke, who orders him to rescue Ren. The Millennium Falcon and the Resistance fleet escape Starkiller Base as it erupts into a ball of fire, eventually forming a small star. They jump to hyperspace and return to D'Qar.

The Resistance celebrates their victory while Leia, Chewbacca, and Rey mourn Han's death. R2-D2 reveals that he holds the map to Luke's location, with the only piece of the map missing being the one BB-8 was given by Poe. Together they complete the map and reveal the location of Ahch-To. As the unconscious Finn recovers, Rey kisses him and thanks him.

With R2-D2 and Chewbacca, Rey leaves on the Millennium Falcon and follows the map to the distant planet, a water world with islands. Rey pilots the starship to a particular island with a large, ancient stone village on it. She climbs the steps to the top of the island, where she finds Luke Skywalker, with a grim look. Both remain silent as Rey presents him with his father's lightsaber.

On October 30, 2012, The Walt Disney Company announced its acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd., the company behind the Star Wars franchise, from creator George Lucas, for $4.05 billion. This followed Lucas's retirement announcement on May 31, and the appointment of Kathleen Kennedy as Lucasfilm's Co-Chair on June 1. Disney announced plans for a sequel trilogy of films beginning in 2015, with Kennedy as executive producer. Episode VII had been in development for months, and Lucas had written story treatments for the films.

On November 9, Lucasfilm confirmed pre-production on Star Wars: Episode VII, with Michael Arndt writing the script. Arndt had submitted a story treatment. Lucas's outlines were set aside, and a writer's room was assembled at a Santa Monica hotel, including Arndt, Kiri Hart, Lawrence Kasdan, Kathleen Kennedy and Simon Kinberg. Kasdan said the sessions lasted months with little progress. Abrams described them as "a ton of ideas and outlines, a lot of cards on the wall, a lot of writing on whiteboards." Lucas was a consultant, but he stepped away due to Disney's decision to take the story in a different direction. He said the original saga was about the father, the children, and the grandchildren, but they've taken it in a different direction.

Arndt worked on the script throughout 2013, focusing on the female lead. The creative team decided to remove Luke from most of the film and make him the character everyone was looking for. Arndt was let go, and Kasdan co-wrote the script with J.J. Abrams, who had been announced as the film's director. In November 2013, Abrams and Kasdan started a new script, incorporating ideas that they each liked. Abrams said, "Blank page. Page one. What do we desperately want to see?" Kasdan said, "…for nine months you talk about something, and then you go off and start from scratch again. You don't flush, you know?" They met at cafes and restaurants and went on long walks, with Abrams recording their conversations. They had a script by January 2014, but they were still working on story elements after production began. Some requested that the film be delayed into 2016. Kasdan's son Jon had uncredited writing contributions, and Episode VIII director Rian Johnson requested Abrams change the ending.

The Force Awakens began preliminary shooting in April 2014, with second-unit work in Iceland and Abu Dhabi. On April 25, Lucasfilm announced a new continuity that excluded the existing Expanded Universe, and confirmed that Episode VII and its sequels would not adhere to any existing continuity. On April 29, the cast list was released. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, and Anthony Daniels would return, joined by John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. Hamill said he never expected to return. Denis Lawson was asked to reprise his role as Wedge Antilles from the original trilogy, but declined.

Principal photography began on May 16, 2014 at the UK's Pinewood Studios. Abrams looked at films by John Ford, Akira Kurosawa, and Terrence Malick for visual inspiration. Daniel Mindel returned to collaborate with Abrams. One sequence was shot with IMAX cameras. Some scenes had to be shot with a stunt double for Peter Mayhew. On June 11, Harrison Ford broke his left leg at Pinewood Studios and was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital. His recovery forced him to drop out of filming for eight weeks. Abrams sustained a minor back injury. On June 28, Andy Serkis confirmed that The Imaginarium Studios would be involved with performance capture. Serkis also confirmed that the character he plays in the film would utilize performance capture. On July 6, Lucasfilm confirmed that Crystal Clarke and Pip Andersen were cast in the film through open casting calls. Production would take a two-week hiatus to accommodate Harrison Ford's leg injury.

On November 6, 2014, the official Star Wars Twitter account announced that the film had completed principal photography. The official title for the film was Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The film had gone through several titles, including Shadow of the Empire.

Michael Kaplan, who had designed the costumes for Abrams' Star Trek films, also signed on to costume Episode VII. Kaplan designed new stormtrooper uniforms, inspired by Apple products. The production team built a new C-3PO suit, while the R2-D2 model was provided and overseen by members of the R2-D2 Builders Club.

Matthew Wood brought in former cast and crew members of Star Wars: The Clone Wars to record background dialogue. Ewan McGregor and Frank Oz also recorded new lines for Rey's Force vision. McGregor's recording was combined with audio of Alec Guinness, and pre-existing Yoda audio was ultimately used.

During a concert on February 9, 2013 composer John Williams stated that he was hoping to write the musical scores for the new trilogy. Abrams said that John Williams would be doing that film. On July 27, 2013, a video of Williams confirming he would score the new film was screened at Star Wars Celebration Europe II. On March 21, 2015, Lucasfilm revealed that John Williams would conduct the score for The Force Awakens in Los Angeles. Williams's previous Star Wars scores were recorded in the United Kingdom. The sessions lasted from summer through fall of 2015.

The initial teaser trailer, which was released ahead of schedule due to both fan eagerness and Abrams's own desire, was first announced via the Bad Robot Productions Twitter feed. Abrams included a message stating that viewers would get "a tiny peek at what we're working on." This 88-second trailer was initially shown in 30 theaters across North America before being made available online on November 28, 2014. Beginning in December of that year, the teaser was then screened in cinemas worldwide. Shortly after, character names were revealed through mock collector cards that were distributed online. Earlier in November, J.J. Abrams made a humorous appearance on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, where he was seen directing R2-D2 on the set of The Force Awakens. In the skit, Abrams becomes frustrated and quits the film when a fish from Oliver's salmon cannon lands on his script.

A second teaser trailer was then launched on April 16, 2015. Variety's June 2015 edition featured The Force Awakens as its cover story, complete with interviews with the cast and crew, along with images from a photo shoot by Annie Leibovitz. The August 2015 issues of both Entertainment Weekly and Empire magazines also featured the film as their main cover story. The Force Awakens had a significant presence at both the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con and D23 events. At D23, it was announced that Drew Struzan was back to create poster art for the movie, including an exclusive poster for the event. A shorter, third teaser trailer was shared on the Star Wars Instagram account on August 27. On September 23, Facebook unveiled a 360-degree panoramic video showing a speeder traveling across Jakku. The official one sheet poster was released on October 18, 2015, and the full-length trailer premiered on October 19 during ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcast.

The cast and crew made appearances on numerous television programs, such as Good Morning America, Live! with Kelly and Michael, and 60 Minutes. Abrams, Boyega, and Ridley took part in a Saturday Night Live sketch that included cast members and celebrity guests in a series of mock auditions. The sketch parodied various topics, including racist reactions to Boyega's casting, Lucas's comments about his lack of involvement, and Abrams's involvement with the rival Star Trek franchise. (More of these aired later on June 1, 2016.) Abrams and the cast also appeared on a Star Wars-themed episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on November 23. Harrison Ford discussed the injury he sustained during filming on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, doing so by destroying a Han Solo action figure.

Some members of the cast and crew participated in an official press conference on December 5. The film's red-carpet premiere was held on December 14 on Hollywood Boulevard, and it was streamed live on StarWars.com. The cast, including the droids, participated in an a cappella medley of the series' music with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots on The Tonight Show. Ford and Abrams participated in a sketch on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that depicted what convinced Ford to return: Colbert allegedly almost convinced Abrams to recast the role of Han with him. Later, when Ford appeared on Conan, he was asked to sign producer Jordan Schlansky's LEGO Millennium Falcon and "accidentally" dropped it. Abrams made a cameo in a May 2016 episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden, appearing in the backseat of a car and directing "Chewbacca Mom" Candace Payne on how to properly use a Chewbacca mask.

On May 21, 2014, Disney, Lucasfilm, and Bad Robot jointly announced "Force for Change," a charitable initiative "dedicated to finding creative solutions to some of the world's biggest problems," initially focusing on contributions to UNICEF. Each donor was entered into a drawing to win a visit to the set of Episode VII and an appearance in the film. On August 11, it was announced that D.C. Barns, a resident of Denver, Colorado, had won the contest. J.J. Abrams subsequently released a YouTube video revealing that the contest had raised $4.26 million. In August 2014, several members of the film's cast and crew participated in the "Ice Bucket Challenge," an online trend involving pouring water on one's head to pledge a donation to the ALS association. On April 21, 2015, Abrams appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and performed the "Twizzler challenge" with Chewbacca to support Autism Awareness Month. In August 2015, Lucasfilm and HP launched a two-month program called "Art Awakens," inviting people to submit art inspired by The Force Awakens. A selection of these submissions were chosen for an art exhibit, with the proceeds benefiting "Force for Change." On November 5, 2015, director J.J. Abrams screened an unfinished version of the film for Daniel Fleetwood, a 32-year-old Star Wars fan with an aggressive form of cancer who was unlikely to survive until the film's release. The campaign to allow him to see the film was supported by several of the film's stars, including John Boyega, Mark Hamill, and Gwendoline Christie. Fleetwood passed away on either November 9 or 10, 2015. The film was also made available for viewing by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. On November 28, it was revealed that R2-KT, the droid built in honor of Katie Johnson, would appear in The Force Awakens. Albin Johnson, the founder of the 501st Legion and Katie's father, had built the droid after she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. In addition to R2-KT's appearance, a variation of the 501st's logo was featured as a flag outside Maz Kanata's castle.

Following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, the company's "imagineers" began planning Star Wars-themed expansions for the various Disney theme parks. However, Bob Iger put a hold on these projects until The Force Awakens and subsequent Star Wars films were far enough along in their development that elements from those projects could be incorporated. On August 15, 2015, it was announced that plans were moving forward for a Star Wars-themed area in the Disney parks, which would include content inspired by The Force Awakens.

Disney's merchandising campaign for the film commenced on September 4, 2015, a day that was branded "Force Friday." Lucasfilm has released a series of books and comics that bridge the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. A novelization of the film was published, along with several other related titles, such as an art book, a character anthology, and an Ultimate Sticker Collection. Content from The Force Awakens was also integrated into the video games Disney Infinity 3.0, Star Wars Battlefront, and LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Disney partnered with eight major brands: Covergirl & Max Factor, Duracell, FCA US, General Mills, HP, Subway, and Verizon. Starting in August 2015, Target stores ran a campaign called "Share the Force," which featured TV commercials, exclusive in-store merchandise, and an online platform where Star Wars fans could share images and videos of their memories of the franchise. Some of Japan's All Nippon Airways airplanes were painted with designs inspired by The Force Awakens.

The merchandise received criticism for the lack of Rey's presence. Hasbro announced that it would re-release its Force Awakens Monopoly game to include her, after initially excluding her in favor of Darth Vader, who does not appear in the film. Abrams stated that he was not heavily involved in the merchandising and that when "I read that she wasn't in the Monopoly game and was quickly making phone calls about this because if it were true — and it is true, and now Hasbro, of course, has said they're going to put Rey in — it doesn't quite make sense why she wouldn't be there."

The Force Awakens was made available on Blu-ray combo pack and DVD on April 5, 2016, with the digital version released four days earlier on April 1. The special features included deleted scenes, featurettes, and a full-length documentary titled Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey. Exclusive content and/or packaging were offered by various retailers, and one deleted scene was exclusive to the digital download. On March 23, 2016, the film was leaked online prior to its official Blu-ray release and was downloaded over two million times in a twelve-hour period. A 3D Collector's Edition was released later in 2016, which included Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, Digital HD, and DVD versions of the film. It featured all of the bonus content from the original release, as well as an audio commentary by J.J. Abrams, additional deleted scenes, and additional behind-the-scenes conversations with the cast and crew.

The film premiered on television on the Starz channels, beginning on September 10, 2016.

Tickets for the film went on pre-sale on October 19th, causing many online retailers to experience outages due to the high demand. This included major sites such as Fandango. By the time the film was released, over $100 million in pre-sale tickets had been sold, surpassing the previous record held by The Dark Knight.

On January 6, 2016, the film broke the record for the highest domestic box-office gross, surpassing the previous record of $760.5 million held by James Cameron's 2009 science-fiction film Avatar. This record was achieved in less than three weeks after the film's release. When adjusted for ticket price inflation, The Force Awakens is the most successful sequel of all time, narrowly beating Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. On February 7, 2016, it was reported that the film had surpassed $2 billion in ticket sales.

The Force Awakens received five nominations at the 88th Academy Awards, held on February 28, 2016. This was the largest number of nominations for a single Star Wars film since A New Hope. The film was nominated for Best Film Editing for Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey; Best Original Score for John Williams; Best Sound Editing for Matthew Wood and David Acord; Best Sound Mixing for Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, and Stuart Wilson; and Best Visual Effects for Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan, and Chris Corbould. The general public voted The Force Awakens as Movie of the Year at the 2016 MTV Movie Awards, and Daisy Ridley was voted Best Breakthrough Performance, while Adam Driver won Best Villain.

According to Robert Iger's 2019 memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, George Lucas was not satisfied with the film, feeling that it lacked originality or innovation. Iger explained that his company's intention was to create a film that was familiar to what had been done before. Kathleen Kennedy later commented on this to Rolling Stone: "He may not agree with every choice J.J. made. He may not agree with every choice Rian made. But he appreciates the film-making. That I know."

Abrams acknowledged one issue with the film, specifically the hug between Rey and Leia at the end, given that it was not established that they knew each other. Abrams explained that Chewbacca was busy tending to Finn's medical needs, while Rey and Leia had communicated via transmitter off-screen. He stated, "Had Chewbacca not been where he was, you probably wouldn't have thought of it. But because he was right there, passed by Leia, it felt almost like a slight, which was definitely not the intention."