The release of the latest 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' poster and trailer had successfully ignited world-wide interest and fans causing a few websites to crash over ticket sales. But despite all the hype, the studios seem eager to reach out to an even wider audience.
Disney has just made a grand gesture to promote 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' in China, and it involved an entire army of Stormtroopers.
According to The Guardian, 500 Stormtrooper replicas have been posed on the steps of the Great Wall of China on Tuesday to help promote 'Star Wars Episode VII.' Fans immediately flocked to the presentation, where they were given free lightsabers as they posed with the Stormtroopers.
It certainly looks like Disney is aiming to tap into China's film market, which happens to be the second largest in the world. China currently has over 10,000 movie screens across the country, and is set to become the largest cinema market in the future. If Lucasfilm manages to get Chinese audiences hooked on 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' it could generate an enormous box office win for the film.
But it seems like success might not come too easily for the 'Star Wars' movie franchise, which has only been officially released in China last June. Although films like 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of The Jedi' were well-received by Chinese viewers, it is still unclear whether fans will be eager to see the sequel to a movie franchise they have just been introduced to.
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' takes place 30 years after the events in 'Return of the Jedi' and follows the story of a young scavenger named Rey (Daisy Ridley) and a defected Stormtrooper known as Finn (John Boyega). The film also marks the return of Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker.
