To help Chinese audiences understand the American "Star Wars Universe," there's actually a good approach—put yourself in their shoes. Someone once said that Harry Potter is the Star Wars of our generation. If Chinese audiences can understand why they are so obsessed with Harry Potter, then they can more or less understand why others are so passionate about Star Wars.
Whether it's Harry Potter or Star Wars, both have created worlds that grow on their own.
When George Lucas released Star Wars: A New Hope, he added a line of text at the beginning, telling the audience that the story they were about to see was only a small wave in a much larger ocean — just a fleeting moment in the long history of the Galactic Republic. He also inserted bits of information in many lines of dialogue, hinting at events not shown in the movies but existing within that world.
This "tip of the iceberg" approach is widely used in works that aim to "create a complete world." For example, in The Lord of the Rings, long before Frodo Baggins encountered the One Ring, Middle-earth had already existed for countless years, filled with innumerable heroic stories — yet what the audience sees is only Frodo's journey.
Star Wars is the same. The Galactic Republic had long existed; the Death Star wasn't newly built. Everything shown on screen is merely a corner of that vast world, a tiny fragment in the river of time.
Such an open-ended setting has one great advantage: it maximizes the audience's imagination. Viewers can freely imagine and mentally fill in the unseen parts beneath the surface of the iceberg. They become fascinated by this fictional world — constantly exploring, debating, and sharing — as if they truly lived in it.
The Star Wars fan culture was formed in this way. It might even be the earliest gathering ground for fan-created works.
Since Star Wars was released in 1977, it has inspired countless creative works — fan novels, comics, games, and films — all born from its influence. These fan works, in turn, have fed back into Star Wars, continuously replenishing it with fresh blood, allowing the universe to grow richer and more expansive. This is a collaborative creation between the creators and the audience, a positive cycle that keeps building momentum. Eventually, like a snowball rolling downhill, the influence of Star Wars grew larger and larger.
For Star Wars fans around the world, Star Wars is far more than just a series of movies. It has changed an entire way of life. Through cosplay, fashion art, technology development, and endless academic discussions about "the Force," fans keep the vitality of Star Wars alive and add to its cultural significance in diverse ways.
This is also the most valuable aspect that Star Wars: The Force Awakens can utilize in its promotion.
As May approached, and with "Star Wars Day" and the start of filming for Star Wars: The Force Awakens drawing nearer, a series of Star Wars-themed cultural events began to take place around the world.
The 10th Star Wars Fan Celebration opened grandly in San Francisco. Over 150,000 fans from across the globe gathered near Lucasfilm's headquarters to take part in this grand event.
On this day, Star Wars elements could be seen everywhere at the Lucasfilm headquarters. The entrance featured a 3D statue of Master Yoda, while Stormtroopers and Darth Vader appeared on every floor of the company.
Even the employees of Lucasfilm dressed up in various Star Wars costumes, appearing alongside fans in front of media cameras.
One of Lucasfilm's major hiring criteria is that employees must be die-hard Star Wars fans. The studio has full-time staff dedicated to researching Star Wars lore, compiling the Star Wars Encyclopedia, and maintaining a massive data archive. Lucasfilm even has its own fan relations department, tirelessly spreading Star Wars knowledge to fans worldwide.
Through these efforts, Lucasfilm has connected Star Wars fans across the entire globe.
The Star Wars fandom has already become a unique phenomenon.
According to statistics, Star Wars has accumulated over 300 million loyal fans. These fans revel in everything related to Star Wars — some even incorporate Star Wars elements into their weddings.
In May, Warner's media division highlighted the wedding of two Star Wars fans.
"Members of the Galactic Empire, Duncan and Sami, met long ago, in a galaxy far, far away. The Force between them is unbreakable."
This was the wedding vow of a newlywed Star Wars fan couple, who referred to themselves as "members of the Galactic Empire."
After Star Wars fans have children, they buy them Star Wars toys and watch the movies with them, passing their obsession on to the next generation.
On May 4th, Star Wars Day finally arrived.
How popular is Star Wars Day? Just look at the fans' celebrations around the world — they're absolutely astonishing.
In Australia, a Star Wars–themed rugby match drew waves of cheers. In Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, fans held Star Wars 6-kilometer fun runs. In Italy, the Roman Colosseum was "taken over" by Star Wars fans. And these were only a fraction of the global celebrations.
Stars like Simon Pegg, Charlize Theron, and Robbie Williams also joined the fun by taking themed photos to wish fans around the world a happy Star Wars Day.
The celebrations even extended beyond Earth itself!
NASA released a special one-minute video titled R2-D2 Saves the International Space Station.
In this short film, R2-D2 — the dependable companion of the movie heroes — once again plays a crucial role. The story goes like this: astronauts aboard the International Space Station are preparing to send Star Wars Day greetings to fans on Earth, but the Empire attempts to sabotage the transmission. At the critical moment, the brave and clever R2-D2 steps up, repairing the communication system and ensuring that the message reaches Earth — "May the Force be with you."
Meanwhile, Duke, who was busy filming at Warner Studios, also posted a short video through his official Instant Share account.
In the brief greeting, Duke said that although he really wanted to celebrate the day with other Star Wars fans, he had to stay in the studio to begin work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
At the end of the video, Duke also announced a casting call for extras aimed at Star Wars fans.
The requirements for these extras were quite special — anyone over the age of sixteen with a "memorable face, unusual appearance, striking features, or exotic look" was an ideal candidate.
This instantly sparked tremendous excitement among Star Wars fans.
Duke and Lucasfilm, of course, would not miss the Chinese market, which accounts for "half of the world's box office." On Star Wars Day, Stormtroopers "occupied" the Great Wall, and the four beacon towers were lit up one after another with four large glowing characters—"The," "Force," "Awa," and "kens" (The Force Awakens)—letting the entire world know that this section of the Great Wall had been taken over by Star Wars.
However, none of these external events could distract Duke. After several months of intense preparation, Star Wars: The Force Awakens officially began filming on schedule inside the Warner Bros. studio.
Inside the massive soundstage, it was unusually quiet—only the hum of various machines could be heard. Duke stood behind the director's monitor, watching every corner of the set with focus and precision. The first shot of the film did not feature any real actors; in front of the camera were only two spherical objects rolling around—the droid BB-8.
While John Schwartzman captured everything on camera, a still photographer was also taking photos of BB-8. These stills would become the very first official image released from the film.
As for why? The reason was simple—BB-8 would not only become one of the most important future merchandising profit points of the film but was also a crucial part of the current marketing strategy.
Starting tomorrow, the production team would release a concept teaser. Once the teaser went online, Instant Share would simultaneously launch three custom Star Wars emojis—C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8. They would not appear directly in the emoji bar; only when users typed in certain special topic tags would the emojis show up.
Cute "pet marketing" was nothing new these days, but Duke had designed a new kind—cute robot marketing. BB-8 was the newly added droid in the movie. For audiences who hadn't been following closely, curiosity would spike instantly—who is this adorable little thing? It's irresistibly cute, sure to send the movie's discussion topics trending in minutes.
To make BB-8's cute image truly resonate with the public, the first still photo release was crucial.
However, after Duke called "CUT," the photos the still photographer took of BB-8 failed to satisfy him.
For the needs of the shoot, Duke had specifically designed BB-8's scene—this spherical droid, like a human, hides behind a spaceship cargo bay when danger appears, quietly poking out half its head and its single round eye…
Lucasfilm's professional marketing team had even come up with a caption for the image—"Just Because I Took One More Look at You in the Crowd."
Yet, in the still photographer's image, BB-8 looked stiff and mechanical, completely lacking any trace of cuteness.
"Jack, talk to me…"
Calling over the still photographer who had only recently joined the crew, Duke asked directly, "Do you have some kind of idea here?"
The photographer showed no self-reflection. Instead, his face lit up with pride. "I think I did a great job. I captured something creative."
"Creative?" Duke frowned. The still photographer, who had been recommended by Sofia Coppola, clearly didn't understand the difference between independent films and commercial blockbusters. Duke couldn't be bothered to argue with someone like that. He simply said, "Alright, your work ends here. Starting tomorrow, you don't need to come back."
The film was scheduled for release at the end of the year, and the shooting schedule was extremely tight. Duke didn't have the time or energy to turn a photographer obsessed with "creativity" into someone who could meet commercial demands. So, he simply fired him on the spot.
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