When theteaser trailerforStar Wars: The Force Awakensarrived last November, fans got their first look at the heroes and villains that now populate this beloved galaxy far, far away. There was one big connection to the original trilogy in that all too brief sneak peek, the iconicMillennium Falcon, which was seen engaging in an aerial battle with two TIE Fighters. With just 10 days left untilStar Wars: The Force Awakenshits theaters,Entertainment Weeklyhas debuted a new video which includes some of the previously-seen behind-the-scenes footage and loads of new details about the iconic ship.
For die-hard fans who know the franchise backwards and forwards, you may notice one tiny difference between the Falcon shown inStar Wars: The Force Awakensand the ship fromStar Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. While directorJ.J. Abramsopted to keep the Falcon’s design largely intact from its predecessor, the ship now has a rectangular radar dish, as opposed to the circular dish from the original trilogy. There is actually a good reason for this change, though, since the original radar dish was destroyed when Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) was piloting the Falcon duringReturn of the Jedi.
This video also reveals thatHarrison Fordhad a request forJ.J. Abramsand his production team when he came back. He didn’t want the production designer to “cheap out” on the dashboard toggle switches, since the switches in the original trilogy’s Falcon didn’t have springs, and the switches would just fall back into place after he flipped them. Since the actor is an avid pilot in real life, this detail apparently bothered him, and the production team vowed to get it right this time. Production designerDarren Gilfordspotted the actor flipping every single switch in the new Falcon, which all stayed in place. We also learn new details aboutHarrison Ford’s on-set injury, with the actor reportedly calling a pilot friend of his with a helicopter to fly him the 20 miles from the Pinewood set to a London hospital.
If that wasn’t enough,Entertainment Weeklyalso has two more extensive videos that reveal new details about Rey’s speeder, first seen in the original teaser, and the new ball droid BB-8. The Rey video reveals that her speeder was designed almost identical toLuke Skywalker’s vehicle inStar Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, except it’s turned on its side. The speeder is actually more of an agricultural vehicle, except Rey uses it for scavenging, instead of working on crops.
BB-8 came to life from a sketch by directorJ.J. Abrams, who thought the ball droid resembled either a B or an 8. EW wraps up its video series next week, just beforeStar Wars: The Force Awakenshits theaters on December 18, so be sure to stay tuned for that. Until then, take a look at the first three videos in this series, which examines BB-8, Rey’s speeder and the Millennium Falcon.
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