Fan Phenomena: Star Wars

In October 2012, the Walt Disney Company paid more than $4 billion to acquire Lucasfilms, the film and production company responsible forHoward the Duck. But Disney, despite its history and success with duck characters, wasn't after Howard; in buying Lucasfilms, it also bought the rights to theStar Warsfranchise. Soon after the purchase, Disney announced a newStar Warsfilm was in the works and would be released in 2015, nearly four decades after the first film hit big screens around the world and changed popular culture forever. The continued relevance ofStar Warsowes much to the passion of its fans. For millions of people around the world, the films are more than diversions - they are a way of life. Through costumed role-playing, incessant quoting, Yoda-like grammatical inversions and scholarly debates about the Force, fans keep the films alive in a variety of ways, and in so doing add to the saga's cultural relevance. The first book to address the films holistically and from a variety of cultural perspectives,Fan Phenomena: Star Warsexplores numerous aspects ofStar Warsfandom, from its characters to its philosophy. As one contributor notes, 'The saga that George Lucas created affects our lives almost daily, whether we ourselves are fans of the saga or not'. Anyone who is struggling to forget Jar Jar Binks can certainly agree to that. Academically informed but written for a general audience, this book will appeal to every fan and critic of the films. That is, all of us.